Previous Killam Lectures
2016
Dr. Axel Becke – Killam Prize Laureate in Natural Sciences
“Quantum Theory of Electrons in Matter: Notes, Chords and Symphonies”
7pm November 22 Ondaatje Hall, McCain Building, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Isabelle Daunais – Killam Prize Leareate in Humanities and Social Sciences
“Le roman pour explorer le monde et la vie”
5:30pm October 18, 2016, McGill University Faculty Club
2015
Laureate in Engineering - Dr. Vijay Bhargava
November 24, 2015, Michael Smith Laboratories Lecture Theatre, UBC
From Reginald Fessenden to the Internet of Things: Wireless Networks and You
Laureate in Natural Sciences - Dr. Victoria Kaspi, McGill University
January 12, 2016, Tanna Schulich Hall, McGill University
The Fast Radio Sky
(click here for video)
Laureate in Health Sciences - Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, University of Alberta
January 19, 2016, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, University of Alberta
Hepatitis B and C: Rapidly Evolving Treatments
(click here for video)
Laureate in Social Sciences - Dr. Donald Savoie, Université de Moncton
December, 2015. Direct to video
In conversation with Richard Saillant, Directeur de l'institut Donald J. Savoie
(click here for video)
Laureate in Humanities - Dr. David Bentley, Western University
November 25, 2015, Paul Davenport Theatre, Talbot College
Simile, Metaphor and the Making and Perception of Canada
(click here for two videos - one of Dr. Bentley's talk and the 2nd of the discussion, moderated by Paul Kennedy of CBC's IDEAS)
2014
Laureate in Engineering - Dr. Andreas Mandelis, University of Toronto
October 23, 2014, Natural Resources Engineering Facility, University of Alberta
Photothermal Coherence Tomographies: Principles & Imaging Applications

September 24, 2014, EEEL Building, University of Calgary
The Age of Photonics: Semiconductors of Light
"Cartographo ergo sum": The importance of location to modern society
(click here for video)
Laureate in Humanities - Dr. J.R. (Jim) Miller, University of Saskatchewan
October 20, 2014, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC
BC Treaty-Making in the Twenty-First Century
2013
Laureate in Engineering - Dr. Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta
November 28, 2013, Michael Smith Lab Lecture Theatre, UBC
Granular Computing in Knowledge-Based System Modeling:
Developing New Avenues of Human Centric Architectures
Laureate in Natural Sciences - Dr. Richard Peltier, University of Toronto
November 14, 2013, Telus Centre, University of Alberta
Past Climate Tests of Future Climate Projections: Testing Climate Model Veracity
Laureate in Health Sciences - Dr. Lorne Babiuk, University of Alberta
January 20, 2014, McTavish Faculty Club, McGill University
Vaccines: Impact on Global Health and Economics
(click here for video)
Laureate in Social Sciences - Dr. John McGarry, Queen's University
November 13, 2013, Rosza Centre, University of Calgary
Making Peace: What Causes Conflict and how can it be 'Cured'?
(click here for an article about the event)
Laureate in the Humanities - Dr. Paul Thagard,University of Waterloo
September 20, 2013, Marion McCain Building, Dalhousie University
Eureka! How Creative Intuition Results from Three Brain Mechanisms
2012
Laureate in Engineering - Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, University of Toronto
February 22, 2013, Redpath Hall, McGill University
Brains, Sex and Machine Learning
(click here for still photos)
Laureate in Natural Sciences - Dr. Louis Taillefer, Université de Sherbrooke
April 17, 2013, Potter Auditorium, Dalhousie University
On creativity in Science
Laureate in Health Sciences - Dr. Mark Wainberg, McGill University
February 12, 2013, Life Sciences Centre, UBC
Drug Resistance in HIV: What can we do about it?
Laureate in Social Sciences - Dr. John Whalley, Western University
February 6, 2014, Oborowsky Degner Seminar Hall, University of Alberta
The Search for a Global Climate Policy Regime
Laureate in Humanities - Dr. Jean Grondin, Université de Montréal
February 8, 2013, Hotel Alma, University of Calgary
The Purpose of the Humanities
The following lectures are available in .pdf format by clicking the title of each. Please note that the positions and honours held by the Lecturer(s) are stated as at the date the Lecture was given.
2012
The Honourable Kevin G. Lynch, PC, OC, PhD, LLD
Dr. Lynch is Vice Chair of BMO Financial Group, having joined the bank after a distinguished career in Canada’s public service where he served as Deputy Minister of Industry and Finance; in 2006 he was appointed the 20th Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet and head of the Public Service of Canada. Dr. Lynch is Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo, and serves on several other boards, including those of the Gairdner Foundation and the Perimeter Institute. Effective January 1, 2013, Dr. Lynch will join the Board of Trustees of the Killam Trusts
HUGUETTE LABELLE HALL, TABARET HALL, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA
“ Are Science and Technology up to the Task of Shaping Canada @ 150?”
2011
Dr. Calvin R. Stiller, OC, OOnt
Dr. Stiller is Chairman of BioQuest Innovations Inc. and Chelsey Corporation. He was Chairman and founder of Diversicare Corporation, Oracle Network Corporation, Medical Discovery Management Corporation and Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund Inc. Co-founder of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, MaRS Centre in Toronto, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine. Active in a number of charitable organizations. In 1998 Dr. Stiller was named Chair of the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund and of the Ontario Innovation Trust. Recipient of the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award, 2010.
FAIRMONT HOTEL VANCOUVER, VANCOUVER
“Can we ‘Own the Podium’ in Science and Technology”
2010
Mike Lazaridis, OC, OOnt, FRSC, LLD
Founder, Research In Motion. Donated $100 million to the University of Waterloo to help establish the Institute for Quantum Computing, and $150 million to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
DELTA CHELSEA HOTEL, TORONTO
“The Power of a Great Idea”
2009
Sir Al Aynsley-Green
Children’s Commissioner for England. Former National Clinical Director for Children and Chair of the Children’s Taskforce at the Department of Health and Nuffield Professor of Child Health at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. Knighted for service to children and young people in the Queen’s 80th Birthday Honours list, June 2006.
PIER 21, HALIFAX
“Improving the Lives and Health of Children and Young People”
2008
Dr. D. W. Schindler, OC, AOE, DPhil, FRSC, FRS
Killam Memorial Chair and Professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta. Killam Prize in Natural Sciences, 2003. The only Canadian ever to receive the Stockholm Water Prize, 1991 (and the first ever recipient). Volvo International Environment Prize, 1988.
SUTTON PLACE HOTEL, EDMONTON
“The Role of Science in Making Sound Environmental Policy”
2007
Dr. Peter J. M. Nicholson, PhD, CM
Inaugural president, Council of Canadian Academies, 2006. Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Policy in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada.
THÉÂTRE CAPITOL THEATRE, MONCTON
“More data … Less insight. The new imperative of quantitative literacy”
2006
Professor Bartha Maria Knoppers, PhD, OC
Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine, Université de Montreal. Former Chair of the International Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Organization and member of the International Bioethics Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Co-founder of the International Institute of Research in Ethics and Biomedicine (IIREB).
L’ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE, QUÉBEC CITY
“Biotechnology: The Human as Biological Resource?”
2005
The Honourable Robert Rae, PC, OC
Former Premier of Ontario
Partner, Goodmans LLP, Chancellor of Wilfred Laurier University and Chair of the Canada Unity Council
The Honourable Kenneth Prewitt, PhD
Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs, Columbia University
Former Director of the US Census Bureau, former President of the Social Science Research Council, former Senior Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation, and former Director of the National Opinion Research Center.
THE FAIRMONT ROYAL YORK, TORONTO
“A Higher Priority for Higher Education: Two Perspectives”
2004
W. A. Cochrane, OC, MD, LLD, FRCP(C), FACP
Former Paediatrician-in-Chief, Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children in Halifax;
Founding Dean of Medicine, and former President, University of Calgary;
Former Chairman and CEO, Connaught Laboratories Ltd.;
President, W.A. Cochrane & Associates, Inc.
THE FAIRMONT NEWFOUNDLAND, ST. JOHN’S
“Commercializing University Scientific Discoveries: Issues and Challenges”
2003
Shirley M. Tilghman, PhD
President, Princeton University
Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VANCOUVER
“The Challenges of Educating the Next Generation of the Professoriate”
2002
Dr. Martha C. Piper, DSc, LLD
President and Vice-Chancellor, The University of British Columbia;
Director, Canadian Genetic Diseases Network
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA, OTTAWA
“Building a Civil Society: A New Role for the Human Sciences”
2001
Dr. John R. Evans, CC
President Emeritus, University of Toronto;
Chair, the Canada Foundation for Innovation;
Chair, Torstar Corporation and Alcan Aluminum Ltd.
MONTREAL NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE, MONTREAL
“Higher Education in the Higher Education Economy: Towards A Public Research Contract”
2000
Prof. J. Robert S. Prichard, OC
Prichard – Wilson Professor of Law and Public Policy and President Emeritus, University of Toronto;
Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School
ST. BONIFACE GENERAL HOSPITAL RESEARCH CENTRE, WINNIPEG
“Federal Support for Higher Education and Research in Canada: The New Paradigm”
1999
Dr. Björn Svedberg
Chairman, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences; Chairman, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenberg; Former President and CEO, L.M. Ericsson AB.
PIER 21, HALIFAX
“University Research as the Driving Force for the Development of a Modern Nation in the Next Millennium”
1998
Dr. Michael Smith, CC, OBC, PhD, DU, DSC, LLD, DCL, FRS, FRSC
University Killam Professor, and Peter Wall Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology, University of British Columbia;
Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, 1993
HYATT REGENCY HOTEL, VANCOUVER
“Science and Society in the Forthcoming Millennium”
1997
Hon. Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, QC
Partner, Bennett Jones Verchere; Coporate Director; Former Premier of Alberta; Chancellor, Queen’s University
READING ROOM, HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, OTTAWA
“The Economic and Employment Impact of Research in Canada”
1996
Dr. Richard A. Murphy, PhD
Director, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University
THE UNVERSITY OF CALGARY
“Government Policy and University Science: Starving the Golden Goose”
1995
Dr. David L. Johnston, OC
Chair, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research;
Former Principal, McGill University
HART HOUSE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
“Research at Canadian Universities and the Knowledge Based Society”