Canada is routinely ranked among the world’s most innovative countries, and this consistency is driven by the country’s significant investments in research. In 2000, the Canadian government launched the Canada Research Chair Program to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in R&D. In parallel, McGill University launched its own series of awards that recognize the excellence of its researchers, as well as their leadership at the international level.
These awards are the James McGill Professor (JMP) awards and the William Dawson Scholar (WDS) awards. These are complemented by the Distinguished James McGill Professors (DJMP) awards for late-career researchers – McGill’s highest honour – which were created in 2017. This year, the Office of the Provost and Vice Principal, which administers these awards, has selected a total of 32 Professors to be honoured in these categories.
The awardees are:
- Distinguished James McGill Professors – 10 honorees:
- Professor Shari Baum (School of Communication Sciences and Disorders)
- Professor Peter H Grutter (Department of Physics)
- Professor Vicky Kaspi (Department of Physics)
- Professor Leonard Levin (Department of Ophthalmology)
- Professor Morag Park (Department of Oncology)
- Professor Dieter Reinhardt (Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology)
- Professor Christine Ross (Department of Art History & Communication Studies)
- Professor Guy Rouleau (Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery)
- Professor Ernesto Schiffrin (Department of Medicine)
- Professor Robyn Tamblyn (Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health)
- James McGill Professors – 4 honorees:
- Professor Martin Lepage (Department of Psychiatry)
- Professor Joann Whalen (Department of Natural Resource Science)
- Professor Daniel Tzvi Wise (Department of Mathematics and Statistics)
- Professor Robert Wisnovsky (Institute of Islamic Studies)
- William Dawson Scholars – 18 honorees:
- Professor Armando Bertone (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology)
- Professor Michael Blome-Tillman (Department of Philosophy)
- Professor Megan Bradley (Department of Political Science)
- Professor Jinjoo Cho (Department of Music Performance)
- Professor Tomislav Friscic (Department of Chemistry)
- Professor Yuriko Furuhata (Department of East Asian Studies)
- Professor Blane Harvey (Department of Integrated Studies in Education)
- Professor Mark Lefsrud (Department of Bioresource Engineering)
- Professor Adrian Liu (Department of Physics)
- Professor Frédéric Mégret (Faculty of Law)
- Professor Milica Miocevic (Department of Psychology)
- Professor Joëlle Pineau (Department of Computer Science)
- Professor Monica Popescu (Department of English)
- Professor Markus Poschke (Department of Economics)
- Professor Brent Richards (Department of Medicine)
- Professor Lisa Stevenson (Department of Anthropology)
- Professor Zoua Vang (Department of Sociology)
- Professor Elsa Vasseur (Department of Animal Science)
Both the JMP and WDS awards come with an annual salary supplement and an annual research allowance not exceeding $25,000. The Distinguished James McGill Professor award provides for a $10,000 academic stipend or a $15,000 research grant allowance. DJMPs have held James McGill Professorships for two seven-year terms while maintaining an outstanding research record, or who have held a Canada Research Chairs (Tier 1) for two seven-year terms. DJMP awardees hold the distinction until retirement, and those granted Emeritus status retain the title.