U of G Gets $12.8 Million From CRCs Program
November 24, 2010 - News Release
The federal government today unveiled a major investment in the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, including $12.8 million for the University of Guelph. U of G received five new chairs and had another eight renewed.
Tony Clement, minister of industry, made the national announcement in Toronto on the opening day of a special conference marking the 10th anniversary of the CRCs program.
In total, 310 chairs have been announced or renewed in Canada, worth an estimated $275.6 million.
“This is Guelph’s largest-ever CRC allocation,” said Kevin Hall, vice-president (research). “It comes at a time when Canada is celebrating the contributions of its research chairs over the past decade. U of G’s chairholders have helped make the program a success through their innovations and discoveries, and will continue to do so with these 13 new and renewed chairs.”
U of G received one new Tier 1 chair and five new Tier 2 chairs. Tier 1 chairs are considered world leaders in their field and receive $200,000 annually for seven years. Tier 2 chairs for potential world leaders in their fields are worth $100,000 a year for five years.
Philosophy professor Monique Deveaux, who joined U of G this fall from Williams College in Massachusetts, was named a Tier 1 chair in Ethics and Global Social Change. She will examine global effects of economic and political policies, including how scholars, policy-makers and institutions handle social and economic inequality and injustice, and how groups conceptualize and treat recipients of aid or justice.
Guelph’s Tier 2 chairholders are:
- Prof. Evan Fraser, Department of Geography, CRC in Global Human Security to better understand food security under changing environmental and economic conditions;
- Prof. Nina Jones, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB), CRC in Eukaryotic Cellular Signalling to help find treatments for ailments such as heart defects, kidney disease and cancer;
- Prof. Carla Rice, who will join the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, CRC in Care, Gender and Relationship to understand and transform stereotyping and social exclusion of women living with disabilities and physical differences; and
- Prof. David Wright, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, CRC in Lipids, Metabolism and Human Health to determine how insulin resistance alters body fat, metabolic consequences and benefits of exercise.
Tier 1 chairs have been renewed for seven years for Profs. James France, Animal and Poultry Science; Allan King, Biomedical Sciences; Joseph Lam, MCB; Ed McBean, Engineering; Frances Sharom, MCB; and Rickey Yada, Food Science.
Tier 2 chairs were renewed for five years for Profs. Dorothee Bienzle, Pathobiology; and Hermann Eberl, Mathematics and Statistics.
The CRCs program is intended to help universities attract and retain top researchers and make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development. Its steering committee consists of the presidents of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, as well as the deputy minister of Industry Canada.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, at 519-824-4120, Ext. 53338, or lhunt@uoguelph.ca, or Deirdre Healey, Ext. 56982 or dhealey@uoguelph.ca.
