UBC congratulates newest University Killam Professors
An extraordinary teacher who encourages their students to pursue excellence. An internationally recognized leader in their academic field. An exceptional researcher whose accomplishments have had a major impact and lead to solutions that change the world.
These are some of the qualities that embody those with the distinction of University Killam Professor – the highest honour UBC can bestow on a faculty member. With that in mind, we are delighted to announce the most recent winners of the University Killam Professorships.
2016/2017 academic year recipients
Dr. Sarah Otto is a renowned evolutionary biologist, professor of Zoology and the first director of UBC’s Biodiversity Research Centre. Dr. Otto’s lab investigates the ability of populations to adapt to environmental challenges, the genetic basis of these adaptations and the factors promoting diversification versus extinction.
Internationally celebrated fisheries scientist Dr. Daniel Pauly is a professor in UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. Currently the Principal Investigator of the Sea Around Us Project, Dr. Pauly has devoted his life to studying, documenting and promoting policies to mitigate the impact of fisheries on the world’s marine ecosystems.
Dr. Janet Werker, professor and Canada Research Chair in Psychology, is one of the world’s leading developmental psychologists and one of the co-founders of the UBC Language Science Initiative. Her lab explores the foundations of language learning, including multi-language acquisition in infancy.
2015/2016 academic year recipients
Dr. Robert E.W. Hancock is a professor and pioneer in several critical areas of microbiology. At UBC he established the Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research (CMDR) and also co-founded the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD). Dr. Hancock’s research explores new treatments for infections and inflammations through a better understanding of antibiotic resistance and inflammatory diseases.
Dr. Julio Montaner has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to improving the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. He helped establish the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and pioneered ‘Treatment as Prevention’ using HAART to decrease morbidity, mortality and HIV transmission. Among other roles, Dr. Montaner is currently a professor and head of the Division of AIDS at UBC, and the director of the BC Centre for Excellence (BC-CfE) in HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Loren Rieseberg is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Plant Evolutionary Genomics, and Associate Director, Research at the UBC Botanical Garden. Most recently, Dr. Rieseberg has also been named as the new director of UBC's Biodiversity Research Centre. With a focus on sunflowers, Dr. Rieseberg studies the origins and evolution of new species to understand weed evolution and plant domestication, and to provide genomic tools for crop improvement.
Please join us in congratulating these invaluable members of the UBC community as we recognize their extraordinary research and teaching accomplishments.