Daily News

posted on Dec. 4: 163 McMaster employees honoured for years of service

If you do the math, the numbers are astounding. A minimum of 2,400 years of service to McMaster and counting. Recently, 163 McMaster employees were honoured at a Service Recognition Awards annual luncheon held to mark the worthy service of those who have been employed by the University for at least 15 years. "It is no small feat these days to accumulate 15, 20, 30, 35 or 39 years of service to an employer," said President Peter George. "As our society becomes more mobile and technology makes the world seem smaller, people have more choices about what they want to do, where they want to work and how they see their careers unfolding. These new facts of life make all of you even more exceptional." The University has instituted a new award category this year, marking 35 years of service. Twelve employees were honoured in that category this year.

posted on Nov. 29: Celebrating McMaster’s Canada Research Chairs success

The achievements of McMaster's 28 Canada Research Chairs were celebrated Thursday by one of the leaders of the federal government's innovation agenda. Industry Minister Brian Tobin was on campus to announce the appointment of McMaster's two newest chairholders as part of a national announcement of the newest recipients at Canadian universities. McMaster's newest Canada Research Chairs both hail from the Faculty of Science: John Brennan, an associate professor of bioanalytical chemistry and Cecile Fradin, an associate professor of physics & astronomy and biochemistry. Both recipients received Tier 2 awards which means they are researchers whose peers acknowledge them as having the potential to be world leaders in their field. The appointments are for a five-year period and can be renewed once. (Click on McMaster Chairholder Profiles for information about all the University's chairholders.) Tobin lauded the Canada Research Chairs program as one of integrity that emulates the highest standards, noting the awards aren't governed by appeasing political allies or constituents. "It's based on peer review," he said at the ceremony held at the Health Sciences Centre. "It's based on excellence. These 28 chairs have competed against the best and the brightest." The Canada Research Chairs initiative is a $900 million program created to establish 2,000 research chairs in Canadian universities by 2005. LAB TOUR: (L to R) Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research, McMaster President Peter George, Industry Minister Brian Tobin and Stan Keyes, MP Hamilton West were given a tour of the new new High-Throughput Screening (HTS) lab by manager Rebecca Hartlen. Photo by Ron Scheffler