Saturday, February 18, 2012
Raymond Laflamme was recognized by his scientific peers Saturday in a tradition dating back to 1874.
Laflamme officially received his fellowship Saturday morning during a special reception in Vancouver during the AAAS Annual Meeting.
Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honour bestowed upon members of the AAAS by their peers in the scientific community.
"I am grateful to be named a Fellow of the AAAS — to join the ranks of so many great scientists over more than a century," Laflamme said after receiving his certificate and rosette (which is gold and blue, signifying science and engineering).
Guest speaker Suzanne Fortier, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), implored all new AAAS Fellows to "commit to being true champions of the advancement of science."
"We need great science," Fortier said, " and we must do all we can to protect the integrity of science."
Laflamme was recognized "for his important contributions to the field of quantum information processing, and for his leadership in founding the Institute for Quantum Computing."
Laflamme said "the honour also belongs to all my collaborators, colleagues and students at IQC, in Waterloo and around the world."