Toronto Math Professor Captures Gold

April 30, 1999 - (Toronto, Ontario) - Dr. Ronald Duhamel, Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development) today announced that Dr. James Arthur of the University of Toronto is the 1999 winner of the Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.

The award is made annually by NSERC (the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada). Dr. Arthur is the first Toronto resident and first mathematician to receive the award.

"Dr. Arthur has helped re-write the intellectual foundation of modern mathematics, and for more than two decades, he has worked tirelessly to develop a bright new generation of young Canadian mathematicians," said Dr. Duhamel, who will present the medal to Dr. Arthur next Wednesday in Ottawa.

"The Gold Medal is fitting recognition for his contributions to Canada, for his extraordinary career at the forefront of international research, and for his success in helping establish Toronto as a world class centre for mathematics."

"By providing new tools to explain or simplify complex real world problems, mathematics plays a key role in every modern science and engineering discipline," said Tom Brzustowski, President of NSERC. "Dr. Arthur is the country's leading theorist, a researcher who is breaking down the barriers between number systems, algebra, analysis and geometry, and laying the foundation for future endeavours in mathematics and science. He is truly deserving of national recognition."

"Dr. Arthur's eminence as a research mathematician and teacher is paralleled by his tremendous contributions as a scientific leader within the University of Toronto," said Heather Munroe-Blum, University of Toronto Vice-President, Research and International Relations. "He has played a central role in the development of the University as a major international centre for Mathematics."

The Canada Gold Medal honours outstanding, sustained, lifetime contributions to Canadian research. Individuals in all sectors concerned with the advancement of research - university, business, industry and government - may be nominated for the award. The final selection is made by an NSERC award committee on the basis of an international peer evaluation.

NSERC is the national instrument for making strategic investments in Canada's capability in science and technology. The federal council invests almost $540 million annually to support advanced research, train new scientists and engineers, and encourage collaboration between the academic and industrial sectors.

Background information on the Gold Medal laureate can be found on NSERC's Web site.

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