Search for ""

Chalmers Jack Mackenzie, engineer, research manager (b at St Stephen, NB 10 July 1888; d at Ottawa 26 Feb 1984). He was the single most important figure in the postwar growth of Canadian science.

Armand Frappier, CC, physician, microbiologist (born 26 November 1904 in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC; died 17 December 1991 in Montréal, QC). Armand Frappier was a key figure in the fight against tuberculosis in Canada; he both produced the BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine and advocated widespread vaccinations across the country. As founder and director of the Institut de microbiologie et d'hygiène de Montréal, he advanced medical research into infectious diseases and played an important role in the development of public health. (See also INRS-Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre.) He and his team produced a number of vaccines and other biological products (e.g., the anti-polio Salk vaccine, penicillin) and were responsible for freeze-drying blood serum for the armed forces during the Second World War. (See also Canada and the Development of the Polio Vaccine).

John Charles Fields, mathematician (born 14 May 1863 in Hamilton, ON; died 9 August 1932 in Toronto). Fields was an advocate for scholarly and scientific research. He was responsible for the 1924 International Mathematical Congress in Toronto. He also established the Fields Medal, which is awarded every four years at the International Congress of Mathematicians. (See also Mathematics; Mathematics and Society).

Stanley Vollant, CQ, Innu surgeon, professor and lecturer (born 2 April 1965 in Quebec City, Quebec). Vollant is the first Indigenous surgeon trained in Quebec. In 1996, he received a National Aboriginal Role Model Award from the Governor General of Canada. Vollant began Innu Meshkenu in 2010, a 6,000 km walk to promote the teachings of First Nations and to encourage Indigenous young people to pursue their dreams. In 2016, he founded the non-profit organization Puamun Meshkenu to inspire and support Indigenous peoples in their mental and physical health.

Helen Kathleen Mussallem, CC, nursing educator, reformer and administrator (born 7 January 1915 in Prince Rupert, BC; died 9 November 2012 in Ottawa, ON). Mussallem started her career as a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital and was deployed overseas during the Second World War. She was instrumental in reforming nursing education in Canada and around the world. In her 18 years as the executive director of the Canadian Nurses Association, she helped transform nursing into a profession and promoted its role within Canada’s health care system.

Beatrice (Trixie) Helen Worsley, computer scientist, professor (born 18 October 1921 in Queretaro, Mexico; died 8 May 1972 in Waterloo, Ontario). Worsley was a pioneering researcher in the emerging field of computer science. She conducted research and taught at the University of Toronto and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Worsley is considered to be the first female computer scientist in Canada and was honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Association of Computer Science in 2014.

Gerald Vincent Bull, engineer and ballistics expert (born 9 March 1928 in North Bay, ON; died 22 March 1990 in Brussels, Belgium). He studied at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies. At the time, he was the youngest person to ever receive a PhD from the university. He was involved in some of Canada’s most advanced experimental defence projects. Later in his life, Bull was convicted of breaking an international arms embargo against apartheid South Africa. He spent his life perfecting artillery systems; some of his designs could launch payloads into space. He was assassinated during the development of a space gun for Iraq.

Henekh (Henry) Morgentaler, CM, abortion advocate, physician (born 19 March 1923 in Lodz, Poland; died 29 May 2013 in Toronto. Morgentaler spent much of his life advocating for women’s reproductive rights at a time when they could not legally obtain abortions.

Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg (née Sawyer), CC, astronomer and educator (born 1 August 1905 in Lowell, Massachusetts; died 28 January 1993 in Toronto, ON). Recognized internationally for her research on globular star clusters, Helen Sawyer Hogg significantly advanced astronomers’ understanding of the location and age of stars as well as the origins and evolution of our galaxy, the Milky Way. She also contributed greatly to the Canadian public’s understanding of astronomy and inspired women to enter scientific professions.

Samuel de Champlain, cartographer, explorer, colonial administrator, author (born circa 1567 in Brouage, France; died 25 December 1635 in Quebec City). Known as the “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain played a major role in establishing New France from 1603 to 1635. He is also credited with founding Quebec City in 1608. He explored the Atlantic coastline (in Acadia), the Canadian interior and the Great Lakes region. He also helped found French colonies in Acadia and at Trois-Rivières, and he established friendly relations and alliances with many First Nations, including the Montagnais, the Huron, the Odawa and the Nipissing. For many years, he was the chief person responsible for administrating the colony of New France. Champlain published four books as well as several maps of North America. His works are the only written account of New France at the beginning of the 17th century.

Sir John Kennedy, civil engineer, harbour authority (b at Spencerville, UC 26 Sept 1838; d at Montréal 25 Oct 1921). Educated at McGill, he first worked under Thomas KEEFER on the St Lawrence Ship Channel below Montréal.

William Thomas Aikins, surgeon, educator (b at Toronto Township, Upper Canada 4 June 1827; d at Toronto 25 May 1897). The son of Protestant Irish immigrants, he studied at John ROLPH's Toronto School of Medicine and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.

Rudolf Altschul, professor of anatomy, scientist, author (b at Prague [Czech] 24 Feb 1901; d at Saskatoon 4 Nov 1963). He received his medical degree in Prague and did postgraduate work in Paris and in Rome.

Edward William Archibald, surgeon, scientist, educator (b at Montréal 5 Aug 1872; d there 17 Dec 1945).

William Warren Baldwin, doctor, lawyer, politician (b at Knockmore, Ire 25 Apr 1775; d at Toronto 8 Jan 1844). He arrived in Upper Canada in 1799, eventually settling at York [Toronto]. Urbane, talented and in due course wealthy, Baldwin established a comfortable and distinguished law practice.

Albert Peter Low, geologist, explorer (b at Montréal 24 May 1861; d at Ottawa 9 Oct 1942). Low joined the Geological Survey of Canada on graduation from McGill. The Québec-Labrador border was eventually defined on the basis of his 1893-95 explorations.

Sir George Strong Nares, naval officer, Arctic explorer (born 1831 at Clytha, Wales; died 15 January 1915 at Kingston upon Thames, England).

Charles was the least robust of them all but perhaps had the highest standards. Educated at U of T and Johns Hopkins U, he was a professor of chemistry at Central U, Ky, in 1892-93 and then devoted 1894-1903 to the study of music and teaching of voice.

William Joseph Parnell MacMillan, physician, premier of Prince Edward Island 1933-35, lieutenant-governor (b at Clermont, PEI 24 Mar 1881; d at Charlottetown 7 Dec 1957). After a brilliant career as a scholar and physician, MacMillan entered politics in 1923.