University hosts Royal Society of Canada event to celebrate academic achievement

The University of Calgary’s growing profile among Canadian universities was on display Monday evening during a Royal Society of Canada reception honoring leading scholars, artists and scientists.

Society president Yolande Grisé and executive director Darren Gilmour were among dignitaries attending the reception to recognize recent Calgary fellow appointments along with our 2012 Lorne Pierce medal winner.

“We are proud of the growing number of fellows at the University of Calgary, and that at least one fellow has been appointed from the University of Calgary every year since 2002,” said President Elizabeth Cannon. “Those numbers are a testament to the quality of the scholarship we support and to our university's growing prominence in the Canadian post-secondary community.”

"At our celebration last evening, we applauded the stellar contributions of our Royal Society of Canada fellows and medal recipients along with members of other national academies,” added Ed McCauley, vice-president (research) who hosted the event. “These scholars have played a leading role internationally in their respective disciplines, and they are major contributors to our Eyes High vision and our academic and research plans."

Among the recipients honored, as first announced in September 2012, were:

• Stephen Larter, Canada research chair in petroleum geology, and director of Carbon Management Canada from the department of geoscience in the Faculty of Science;
• David Proud, a professor in the department of physiology and pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine and a member of the Snyder Institute;
• Hans Vogel, an AHFMR/AIHS scientist and a professor in the department of biological sciences in the Faculty of Science;
• The society also awarded Aritha van Herk the Lorne Pierce Medal for her contributions to literature.

The reception was also an opportunity to celebrate the university’s important relationship with the Royal Society of Canada as an institutional member since 2006 and as a sponsor of the roof replacement on Walter House – the Royal Society’s permanent home in Ottawa.

This fall, the Royal Society of Canada will bring its 2013 AGM and symposium out west for the first time to Banff, an event being co-hosted by the University of Calgary.

“A Royal Society of Canada fellowship is one of this country’s highest academic honours, recognizing the remarkable contributions of distinguished Canadian scholars who are the very best in their fields,” said Cannon. “We look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with the Royal Society for many years to come.”