A PhD student in surgery, Cameron Elliott likens brain tumour surgery to driving a car. Because tumours can be hard to locate among healthy brain tissue, surgeons need directions. Using a tool like a car’s GPS called neuronavigation, they use pre-operative MRI pictures as a map to see where to position their instruments. But there’s a catch. Unlike city streets, in real time surgery, the brain constantly shifts around and the map becomes unreliable.
It’s a problem that Elliott, winner of one of the University of Alberta’s most prestigious graduate scholarships, is trying to solve.
One of 20 individuals — graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and professors — Elliott was recognized today at the U of A’s annual Killam celebration of outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and mentorship, a tradition that now stretches back for nearly half a century. The recipient of one of 8 2016 Izaak Killam Memorial Scholarships, Elliott receives $35,000 per year for two years in support of his studies.
These scholarships are part of the Killam Trusts. In 1967, the University of Alberta, along with the University of British Columbia, Dalhousie University and the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University, was a beneficiary of an extraordinary gift from the estate of Izaak and Dorothy Killam. When the University of Calgary was founded in 1966 shortly after Dorothy Killam’s death, one third of the U of A’s endowment was shared with the new university in Calgary, expanding the list of “Killam universities” to five.
Izaak Walton Killam was one of the most successful Canadian businessmen of the first half of the 20th century, not only amassing a great fortune by the time of his sudden death in 1955 but also in playing a lead role in the development of some of Canada’s key industries and utilities. Dorothy both complemented and matched her husband in acumen and skill, doubling the Killam fortune to $93 million in the ten years following his death.
When she died in 1965, Dorothy Killam’s will established the Killam Trusts, ensuring that the vision that she and her husband had nourished during their marriage would be sustained far into the future. “My purpose in establishing the Killam Trust is to help in the building of Canada’s future by encouraging advanced study,” wrote Dorothy in her will. “I hope, in some measure, to increase the scientific and scholastic attainments of Canadians, to develop and expand the work of Canadian universities and to promote sympathetic understanding between Canadians and peoples of other countries.”
Over the past 49 years, the U of A has stewarded the original $16 million gift from Dorothy Killam’s estate, distributing more than $116 million in scholarships, fellowships, and professorships to exceptional scholars and researchers.
“The Killams saw that Canadians had the talent and skill to do important work — not only in industry and business but also in scientific research, arts and humanities scholarship, and creative activity,” said President David Turpin at today’s award ceremony. “They saw this potential in Canada and Canadians, and they decided to do all that they could to make sure that it would not languish or drain away to other countries. The University of Alberta has been one of the fortunate beneficiaries of that vision and many of the scholars supported by the Killam Trusts have gone to have major impact in their fields.”
Among the 20 award recipients five new annual Killam professors were added to a long list of past recipients in recognition of their distinguished performance across the full range of responsibilities: teaching, research, publications, creative activities, papers, graduate supervision, and contributions to the community.
Eric Adams, professor of law and recipient of a Killam Annual Professorship for his leadership of a collaborative national research project on the internment and dispossession of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, appreciates the wide scope of the award. “It is an immense honour to be recognized in this manner,” says Eric Adams. “I am especially pleased that the Killam Professorship takes into account all facets of academic life. For me, doing my job well means equal focus on scholarly research, responsive teaching, and participating in conversations and research that will benefit the broader public.”
Today’s Killam Celebration was co-hosted by David Turpin; Walter Dixon, associate vice-president of research; and Heather Zwicker, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Joining them were two trustees from the Killam Trust: George Cooper, Managing Trustee, and The Honourable Kevin G. Lynch.
The following is a list of the U of A’s 2016 Killam Laureates:
2016 Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship Recipients
Cameron Elliott, Surgery
Bradley Hauer, Physics
Shela Hirani, Nursing
Danielle Simkus, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Tiago Simões, Biological Sciences
Joshua St Pierre, Philosophy
Janine Tine, Elementary Education
Marta-Marika Urbanik, Sociology
2016 Dorothy J Killam Memorial Graduate Prize Recipients
Cameron Elliott, Surgery
Bradley Hauer, Physics
Shela Hirani, Nursing
Marta-Marika Urbanik, Sociology
2016 Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellows
Aaron LeBlanc, Biological Sciences
Laura Sikstrom, Sociology
Zaira Blanco, Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
2016 Dorothy J Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow Prize Recipient
Aaron LeBlanc, Biological Sciences
2016 Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring Recipients
Kevin Haggerty, Sociology
Mark Lewis, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences; Biological Sciences
2016 Killam Annual Professors
Eric Adams, Law
Patrick MacDonald, Pharmacology
Lianne McTavish, Art and Design
Zubia Mumtaz, Public Health
Kyle Murray, Marketing, Business Economics, and Law
Arya Sharma, Medicine
Stephen Strelkov, Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science