A philosopher, a molecular pharmacologist and a political scientist are among the five Canadian researchers who will receive $100,000 apiece for outstanding contributions to their respective fields.
The Canada Council for the Arts named this year’s winners of the prestigious Killam Prize on Wednesday. The career honours are awarded annually to scholars who have distinguished themselves in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering.
The 2021 recipients include University of Toronto philosopher Arthur Ripstein for his work on Immanuel Kant’s legal and political theories, and University of Montreal molecular pharmacologist Michel Bouvier for his cutting-edge research on cell signalling.
University of Toronto chemist Douglas Stephan is commended for his paradigm-shifting discovery of “frustrated Lewis pairs,” which have properties that allow them to catalyze chemical reactions in previously unknown ways.
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Also among the honourees are York University political scientist Stephen Gill for his prolific scholarship on international relations and global affairs, and HEC Montreal’s Gilbert Laporte, a world-renowned expert in operational research and decision science.
Typically the Canada Council also announces the Killam Research Fellowships, which would provide six scholars with a combined $840,000 for independent research projects, but according to the council’s website the program has been suspended as the agency reviews its suite of prizes.
Killam Prize winners are selected by a committee of their peers. Previous winners include Victoria Kaspi, the late Mark Wainberg, and Nobel Prize winner Arthur McDonald.
Established in 1965, the Killam Trusts are valued at roughly $500 million, including nearly $70 million from the Canada Council. The program was endowed by Dorothy Killam in memory of her late husband, Canadian industrialist Izaak Walton Killam.
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