Congratulations to Professor Donna Strickland, who was listed as the 39th most powerful person in Canada, according to Maclean's Magazine's 2021 list.
In a list amongst politicians, activists, business leaders, epidemiologists and public health experts, Donna Strickland stands out as a researcher driven by curiosity.
As society navigates the global pandemic, social movements, and dependence on technology over the past year, our definitions of power have changed alongside it. According to Maclean’s, their list includes people who “by dint of their actions, words or character, they force us to watch, listen and learn. They are moving the needle in their chosen fields, and in many cases the wider world.”
Since being awarded the Nobel Prize in 2018, Donna Strickland has become an advocate for curiosity-driven research, like chirped pulse amplification, which she developed during her PhD with Gérard Mourou at the University of Rochester in New York state. Additionally, as only the third women to receive a Nobel Prize in physics between 1901 and 2018, Donna Strickland has also quickly become a role model for women and girls in science.
Congratulations Donna!