Two Western scholars and one professor emerita have been named among the new Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). They have been elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. Election to the academies of the RSC is the highest honour a scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences.
Founded in 1882, the RSC comprises the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada. Its mission is to recognize scholarly, research and artistic excellence, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world. Western now has a total of 71 Fellows, starting with Microbiology and Biochemistry professor Robert Murray in 1958.
There are more than 2,000 Canadian scholars, artists, and scientists, peer-elected as the best in their field. The fellowship of the RSC comprises distinguished men and women from all branches of learning who have made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life.
While the early fellowship was drawn primarily from Quebec and Ontario, today its geographic reach has expanded to include scholars and artists drawn from every region of Canada.
The Royal Society of Canada also announced the recipients of the College of New Scholars today.
Western newest Fellows, who will be inducted during ceremonies on Nov. 22 in Ottawa, include:
Joy MacDermid
Physical Therapy
Joy MacDermid pioneered patient-reported outcome measures that are widely used to assess functional outcomes. As a leader in evidence-based surgery and rehabilitation, she has developed and applied methods to synthesize research. MacDermid works with knowledge users to identify priority issues in musculoskeletal health and leads the resulting (inter)national clinical trials. These trials and syntheses have had a major impact on practice and policy in Canada and internationally.
Ravi Menon
Medical Biophysics
Ravi Menon has been a pioneer in the use of MRI for structural and functional brain imaging. From the landmark demonstration and further development of functional MRI, to pioneering the use of ultra-high field MRI techniques for use in neuroscience and patient care, the groundbreaking neuroscience and neuroimaging advances developed by Menon are used in thousands of universities, research institutes, hospitals and pharma around the world today.
Ann Chambers
Professor Emerita
Oncology, Medical Biophysics and Pathology
Ann Chambers is one of Canada’s most internationally renowned experts on tumour progression and metastasis, the cause of most cancer deaths. Among her many exceptional achievements in basic and translational cancer research aimed at benefitting patients are the development of novel ways to image metastasis, identification of dormant cancer cells that resist treatment and later form metastases, and development of approaches for studying biomarkers of cancer progression in patients.
