Browse "Science & Technology"

Ursula Martius Franklin, CC, OOnt, FRSC, physicist, educator, feminist and social activist (born 16 September 1921 in Munich, Germany; died 22 July 2016 in Toronto, Ontario). A specialist in the structure of metals and alloys, she pioneered the development of archaeometry, which applies modern techniques of materials analysis to archaeology. After working as a senior research scientist for the Ontario Research Foundation (1952–67), she joined the University of Toronto’s Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science (now the Department of Materials Science and Engineering) in 1967. She won many awards for her innovative scientific and humanitarian work, including the Pearson Peace Medal (2002).

Uuno (a.k.a. Uki) Vilho Helava, inventor (born 1 March 1923 in Kokemäki, Finland; died 6 June 1994 in Ottawa, ON). He invented the analytical plotter for automatically drawing maps from photographs.

Veena Rawat, OC, electrical engineer, civil servant, telecommunications pioneer (born in 1945 in India). Veena Rawat spent nearly 40 years in public service, serving in leadership positions in management and policy development with Industry Canada. A trailblazer in the telecommunications sector, Rawat was the first female to complete a doctorate in electrical engineering at Queen’s University and was the first female president of Industry Canada’s Communication Research Centre. Rawat has been a leading voice in the creation of global regulatory structures for radio spectrum management, championing efforts to make broadband service affordable to all and bring it to remote and rural regions. She is an advocate for gender equality in STEM sectors and increasing women’s presence in engineering fields.

Victor John Harding, professor of pathological chemistry (b in Eng 23 Oct 1885; d at Toronto 3 July 1934). Graduating in chemistry from Owen's College, Manchester (DSc, 1912), Harding began an association with McGill in 1910. He became associate professor of physiological chemistry in 1917.

Victoria Michelle (Vicky) Kaspi, CC, FRSC, FRS, astrophysicist (born 30 June 1967 in Austin, Texas). Kaspi is best known for her studies of collapsed stars such as neutron stars and pulsars. In 2016, she became the first woman to win the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal, the country’s top science prize awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. 

Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada is a national, nonprofit, community-health organization that provides nursing care in the home, particularly for the elderly and chronically ill.

Vincent Lam, writer, medical doctor (b at London, Ont 5 Sept 1974). Lam's family is from an expatriate Chinese community in Vietnam. Lam, however, was born in Canada and raised in the country's capital.

Vladimir Joseph Krajina, scientist, educator (b at Slavonice, Austria-Hungary [Czech Republic] 30 Jan 1905, d at Vancouver 31 May 1993). He earned his doctorate summa cum laude in 1927 at Charles University, Prague, where he remained on staff until 1948.

William Wallace Gibson, aircraft inventor (b at Dalmellington, Scot 1876; d at San Francisco, Calif Dec 1965). After making a fortune in mining, Gibson built the first successful Canadian aircraft engine, and then the Twin-Plane

Turnbull's research was recognized early - he won a medal from the Royal Aeronautical Soc in 1909 - but his greatest achievement was the variable-pitch propeller, tested in flight in 1927.

Walter Andrew Kenyon, archaeologist, museum curator (b near Brantford, Ont 21 Feb 1917; d at Toronto 10 Sept 1986). He joined the Royal Ontario Museum in 1956 as assistant curator of ethnology, later earning Canada's first PhD degree in archaeology (U of T, 1967).

Walter Moberly, civil engineer (b at Steeple Aston, Eng 15 Aug 1832; d at Vancouver 14 May 1915). He came to Canada as a child and studied in Canada W, later moving to BC.

Walter Palmer Thompson, plant geneticist, university administrator (b near Decewsville, Ont 3 Apr 1889; d at Saskatoon 30 Mar 1970). Raised on a farm in Haldimand County, Ont, Thompson graduated from U of T in 1910 and received his PhD from Harvard in 1914.

Walter Shanly, civil and consulting engineer and builder (b at Stradbally, Ire 11 Oct 1817; d at Montréal 17 Dec 1899). Encouraged by H.H. KILLALY, he started work in 1840 on canal construction but moved to railways in 1848.

Wilbur Rounding Franks, medical researcher, inventor of the "G suit" (b at Weston, Ont 4 Mar 1901; d at Toronto 4 Jan 1986). After graduating in medicine at the University of Toronto, Franks trained in cancer research

His studies in 1924 with the Madrid neurohistologist Pio del Rio-Hortega provided him with metallic staining techniques that yielded new information on the glia, the supporting cells of the nervous system.

Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, OC, surgeon (born 18 June 1913 in Brandon, MB; died 27 March 2005 in Toronto, ON). Dr. Bigelow's special contribution to surgery of the heart was the use of hypothermia to slow tissue metabolism and thus protect the heart and brain from damage.

Wilfrid Bennett Lewis, physicist, chief scientist for 26 years of Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (b at London, Eng 24 June 1908; d at Deep River, Ont 19 Jan 1987). Lewis trained under Lord RUTHERFORD and worked in atomic physics throughout the 1930s.

Boyle grew up in northern Quebec, his family having moved there from Nova Scotia when he was a small child. His father was a physician in the logging community of Chaudière, and Boyle was home schooled by his mother.