2016 Killam Prizes

"One thing we’re most assuredly not lacking in this country is world-class research and innovation. You’re among the best in Canada, which means your work is among the best in the world. Thank you for your hard work and your dedication to excellence."

Daniel Trefler (Social Sciences, University of Toronto) is associated with many research organizations. In Canada, he is a senior research fellow at the remarkable Canadian Institute for Advanced Studies (CIFAR) and is a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. He also serves as an advisor to the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity. Internationally, he is a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (Cambridge, Mass.); the Centre for Policy Research (Europe); and the International Growth Centre (London, England).

Steven Narod (Health Sciences, University of Toronto) is a world leader in the field of breast and ovarian cancer. Over the course of his career, he has profoundly shaped our knowledge of how to assess risk for breast and ovarian cancer and how to reduce mortality among women who have BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

Elizabeth Edwards (Engineering, University of Toronto) is internationally known for her work on bioremediation, on the application of molecular biology and environmental genomics to microbial processes, and the translation of laboratory research into commercial practice.

The work of Isabelle Daunais (Humanities, McGill University) looks at the connections the modern novel has with memory. Her studies of the fiction of the 19th and 20th centuries help us to understand the way the novel, through characters’ consciousness, is one of the privileged ways we are able to conserve the memory of lost worlds.

Axel Becke (Natural Sciences, Dalhousie University) is professor emeritus in the department of chemistry at Dalhousie University. His seminal work on the density-functional theory of the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and materials has transformed computational science.

George T. H. Cooper, Managing Trustee of the Killam Trusts, also delivered remarks.

Simon Brault, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, delivered remarks. The Canada Council for the Arts administers the Killam Program.

The Canada Council Killam Prizes were inaugurated in 1981 with a donation made by Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam in memory of her husband, Izaak Walton Killam. The prizes were created to honour eminent Canadian scholars and scientists actively engaged in research, whether in industry, government agencies or universities.

The Governor General presented the 2016 Killam Prizes to five eminent Canadian scholars during a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

The Killam Program at the Canada Council also includes the Killam Research Fellowships, which support scholars engaged in research projects of outstanding merit in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering and interdisciplinary studies within these fields.