1st Annual Killam Prize Symposium

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, hosted the 1st Annual Killam Prize Symposium at Rideau Hall on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. The topic of the symposium was “How do we find things out? What are the ideal conditions for discovery?”

The host of CBC’s “Ideas,” Paul Kennedy, moderated the discussion with the 2012 Canada Council’s Killam Prize laureates, five of Canada’s top research scholars.

Mark A. Wainberg, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, is a 2012 Killam Prize laureate and was one of the panellists.

Jean Grondin, Université de Montréal (left), is a 2012 Killam Prize laureate and was one of the panellists.

John Whalley, University of Western Ontario, is a 2012 Killam Prize laureate and was one of the panellists.

The Canada Council for the Arts Killam Prizes are awarded annually for the outstanding career achievements of Canadian scholars in health sciences, engineering, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. These awards were inaugurated in 1981, through a donation by Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam to the Canada Council for the Arts, in memory of her husband, Izaak Walton Killam. The prizes were created to honour Canadian scholars and scientists actively engaged in research, whether in industry, government agencies or universities.

The one-hour discussion was followed by a question and answer period with the laureates and invited guests. The Killam Prize Symposium was presented by CBC Radio in collaboration with the Killam Trusts and the Canada Council for the Arts. The discussion will be broadcast on “Ideas” on CBC Radio 1 on Friday, November 30, 2012.

Louis Lepage Taillefer, Université de Sherbrooke, is a 2012 Killam Prize laureate and was one of the panellists.

The Governor General concluded the discussion with closing remarks.