Birgeneau Elected to Royal Society

U of T President Robert Birgeneau and astrophysics professor Richard Bond have been elected fellows of the Royal Society of London in honour of their exceptional contributions to science. Birgeneau is known for his pioneering work on the fundamental properties of condensed matter using neutron and X-ray spectroscopy. Bond, director of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at U of T, has contributed to advances in most fields of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology.

U of T President Emeritus Robert Prichard has been named president of the Torstar Media Group. The group’s corporate holdings include the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator and Sing Tao Daily. Prichard has also been named Torstar Corporation’s chief operating officer.

Three scholars at the University of Toronto have received the distinguished Killam Research Fellowships, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The honoured recipients are Heather Jackson, an English professor and author of Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books (Yale University Press); classics professor Timothy Barnes, who is working on a project called Emperors and Legislation in the Late Roman Empire; and University of Toronto at Scarborough chemistry professor Thomas Tidwell, who is investigating a series of highly reactive organic chemical intermediates using laser flash photolysis. Professors Pierre Milman of mathematics and Stephen Waddams of the Faculty of Law have had their fellowships renewed for a second year. Killam Research Fellowships enable Canada’s best scientists and scholars to devote up to two years to full-time research and writing.

U of T Magazine has garnered gold, silver and bronze in the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education Prix d’Excellence Awards. The gold for best writing went to Michael Smith for his article on photonics, “Light Heavyweights” (Fall 2000). The magazine won silver in the best magazine category, and bronze awards for writing and photography. In the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District II Accolades Awards, silver went to the magazine for best article and best illustration. The magazine also won bronze for overall design of a single issue for the Spring 2000 issue.