Ottawa, November 15, 2021 – The Killam Trusts and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) are pleased to announce the inaugural appointments to the National Killam Program Advisory Board. This esteemed group of representatives from the Canadian research community will provide strategic advice on the National Killam Program and the renewal of its delivery and impact.
Led by co-chairs, Suzanne Fortier, President and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University and Elizabeth Cannon, O.C. President Emerita, University of Calgary, the Program Advisory Board will be essential in the administration and delivery of the National Killam Program. Mike DeGagné, President and Chief Executive Officer, Indspire; John Hepburn, Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, Mitacs; Kevin Hewitt, Professor, Dalhousie University; Catalina Lopez-Correa, Chief Scientific Officer, Genome Canada; and Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Professor, University of Toronto are the members who will complete the National Killam Program Advisory Board.
The National Killam Program, which includes the Killam Prizes and Killam Research Fellowships, will transition from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) to the NRC in Spring 2022. The NRC is engaging with key stakeholders to inform the redesign of the Killam Research Fellowships and administration of the Killam Prizes. The NRC will be guided in its work by the National Killam Program Advisory Board, the Killam Trusts and CCA to continue Dorothy J. Killam’s legacy of “building Canada’s future through advanced study”.
The Killam Trustees are delighted to have such experienced and accomplished advisors to help guide the National Killam Program during this period of redesign and to continue to deliver on the vision and mission of Dorothy J. Killam.
– Bernard F. Miller, QC, Managing Trustee, Killam Trusts
The National Research Council of Canada looks forward to working with the National Killam Program Advisory Board to help shape the direction for the National Killam Program, as it continues to fund research excellence in Canada.
– Iain Stewart, President, National Research Council of Canada
The list of National Killam Program Advisory Board Members can be found here.
About the Killam Trusts
Established in 1965 by Izaak Walton Killam and his wife Dorothy J. Killam, the Killam Estate bequeathed a total of $125,000,000 in life and death for scholarships at the graduate and postgraduate levels to recognize research excellence. The Killam Trusts have provided more than $1 billion in scholarships, fellowships and prizes to post-graduate scholars at five Canadian universities, and through the Canada Council. No other private philanthropic effort has contributed this level of funding to higher education in Canada.
About the National Research Council of Canada
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is Canada’s largest federal research and development organization with a strong commitment to research excellence. Our mission is to have an impact by advancing knowledge, applying leading-edge technologies, and working with other innovators to find creative, relevant and sustainable solutions to Canada’s current and future economic, social and environmental challenges. The NRC’s vision is a better Canada and world through excellence in research and innovation.
Media Relations Contacts
Killam Trusts
Media Relations
902-494-1329
administrator@killamlaureates.ca
National Research Council of Canada
Media Relations
613-991-1431
1-855-282-1637
media@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca