Posted on July 16: McMaster professors inducted into Royal Society of Canada

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/brash_harris.jpg” caption=”John Brash, Bill Harris”]Whether they are investigating the formation of the universe or developing new medical devices, McMaster University's newest members of the Royal Society of Canada, John Brash and Bill Harris, are improving our understanding of both our world and ourselves.

John Brash of McMaster's Department of Chemical Engineering is recognized internationally as a pioneer in the science and technology of biomaterials. Over the past four decades, his studies have contributed directly to the development of advanced medical devices, such as artificial arterial grafts, blood pumps, and heart valves. Through his personal research, service on policy and granting agency committees in Canada and abroad, interaction with collaborators, and innovative role as an educator, Brash has played a major role in defining the discipline of biomaterials.

William Harris, a professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at McMaster, is the world's leading expert in the study of globular star clusters in galaxies. The oldest remaining visible entities in galaxies, stars in these clusters formed 13 billion years ago, and their properties yield unique clues to the early state and evolutionary history of large galaxies. Harris' investigations of the properties of individual globular clusters in our galaxy are among the most exacting and widely used studies in the field. This work is having a growing impact on scientists' understanding of stellar populations and galaxy formation.

Sixty McMaster professors are fellows of the Royal Society of Canada. Fellowship in the society is considered one of Canada's most prestigious academic accolades to which scholars and scientists aspire.

Photo caption: McMaster's two newest fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, John Brash, left, and William Harris.