Suzanne Fortier

Dr. Suzanne Fortier has served as President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) since January 2006.

Before her appointment to this position, Dr. Fortier held a number of senior research and administrative positions at Queen’s University. She joined Queen's University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry in 1982 after holding research positions at the Medical Foundation of Buffalo and the National Research Council Canada. She then served as Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Acting Vice-Principal (Research), and Associate Dean in the School of Graduate Studies and Research before being appointed Vice-Principal (Research) in 1995. Most recently (2000-2005), she was Vice-Principal (Academic).

Dr. Fortier is a crystallographer by training, specializing in the development of mathematical and artificial intelligence methodologies for protein structure determination. She is recognized for her leadership in devising novel techniques that allow researchers to gain new insights from the large and growing databases that correlate the structure of crystals to their properties (crystallographic data mining).

During her time as an active researcher, she was a member of the Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (PENCE), the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) and Communications and Information Technology Ontario (CITO). She has edited a book on crystallography techniques and has authored or co-authored 61 publications in refereed journals, 13 other refereed contributions, 12 book chapters, 56 abstracts and 45 invited presentations.

She has received the Clara Benson Award for a distinguished contribution to chemistry by a woman (1997), the Entrepreneurship Award from Communications and Information Technology Ontario (1997), and the Queen’s University Distinguished Service Award (2005).

Most recently, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia (June 2006). The degree recognized her combined scientific achievements and administrative gifts, which reflect her lifelong commitment to the power of learning as a means of enhancing quality of life.

Dr. Fortier served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. and of the Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress. She also sat on the Board of Governors of the Royal Military College of Canada and served as a member of the federal government’s Council of Science and Technology Advisors (CSTA).

A frequent contributor to many NSERC committees as either member or chair, Dr. Fortier was a member of NSERC’s Council from 1996 to July 2005. During this period, she also served a term as Vice-President of Council (1997-2002).