Dr. John Polanyi wins Canada's most prestigious science award

This release is available in French.

OTTAWA – Dr. Colin Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Dr. Suzanne Fortier, president of NSERC, today announced that Nobel Laureate John C. Polanyi is the winner of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada’s most prestigious science prize.

“I congratulate Dr. Polanyi on winning this prestigious award and applaud him for more than 50 years of outstanding contributions to science and society,” said Dr. Carrie. “The Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal aligns with the vision and priorities of the Government of Canada’s Science and Technology Strategy, which was announced by Prime Minister Harper in May of last year and reiterated in Budget 2008.”

Named for Canadian Nobel Laureate Gerhard Herzberg, the annual prize guarantees the winner $1 million in research funding over the next five years.

After sharing the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for trailblazing a path to chemical lasers, Dr. Polanyi continues to make important breakthroughs, including discoveries that could revolutionize the way we manipulate molecules.

A University of Toronto chemistry professor, Dr. Polanyi’s long list of honours includes being named an Officer, and then a Companion, of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Royal Society of London.

Dr. Polanyi's brilliance in science is complemented by a wide range of interests and a keen social conscience. He is a founding member of both the Committee on Scholarly Freedom of the Royal Society and the Canadian Committee for Scientists and Scholars, a human rights organization of which he is President.