Four professors from the University of Waterloo are among the new fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) announced today, peer-elected as the best in their field.
The fellowship of the RSC consists of individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the arts, the humanities, science, and Canadian public life.
"Waterloo attracts many of the best research talent from across the globe, and the selection of these four individuals as fellows of the Royal Society of Canada is further evidence of their excellent work in particular," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo. "It is groundbreaking research like theirs that will help Waterloo achieve its goal of becoming one of the top innovation universities internationally, tackling some of the most complex issues in the world. I congratulate all of them on this important recognition."
The University of Waterloo's newest Royal Society fellows are as follows:
Philippe Van Cappellen, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
- Philippe Van Cappellen's research is focused on the biogeochemistry of soils, sediments and aquatic ecosystems, the cycles of water, carbon nutrients and metal, global change and geobiology. In addition to fundamental contributions concerning surface precipitation theory for the formation of minerals, he is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in the development and application of reactive transport modeling to complex aqueous geochemical systems. Professor Van Cappellen is the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ecohydrology.
David Cory, Institute for Quantum Computing, Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science
- David Cory’s work spans chemistry, engineering and physics. He pioneered one of the first laboratory demonstrations of a quantum computer by using the magnetic moments of nuclei as quantum bits and showing how this information can be initialized, transformed and measured. His influence bridges the foundations of quantum information science to industrial applications of magnetic resonance, including the development of practical quantum sensors for uses in medicine, resource exploration and material science. Professor Cory is the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Information Processing.
Eric Helleiner, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts
- Eric Helleiner is an award-winning scholar in the field of international political economy. Much of his most widely cited research focuses on the politics of global money and finance. He is the author of numerous publications, including five single-authored books analyzing financial globalization, the history of national currencies, Canada’s exchange rate policy, post-2008 global financial reforms, and the origin of the Bretton Woods international financial and monetary system.
Xuemin Shen, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
- Xuemin Shen has gained a worldwide reputation as a foremost researcher in resource management and information security for wireless communication networks. His research contributions have been highly influential, set the direction for others in the research community, and led to the development of innovative networking algorithms/protocols and novel analytical techniques and models for engineering solutions.
The RSC names about 80 new fellows annually. This year's induction ceremony will take place on November 27 in Victoria.
The primary objective of the RSC is to promote learning and research in the arts, the humanities and the natural and social sciences. To learn more about the Royal Society of Canada, please visit the website.
