Renowned Canadian economist Richard Lipsey received the 2005 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Gold Medal - the Council's highest honour - last night during a ceremony at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver."Dr. Lipsey is one of the most influential and prolific economists in Canada today," said Stan Shapson, interim president of SSHRC. "Throughout his career, he has challenged accepted theories and notions of truth, and dramatically influenced not only the field of economics, but the whole of Canadian society."The SFU professor emeritus, who is most famous for sparking the free trade debate of the 1980s, has spent the past 50 years engaged in economic research, teaching and policy work that has helped reshape the Canadian economy and changed the way economists around the world think about their work."Dr. Lipsey's research has touched virtually all aspects of theoretical and applied economics," said John Pierce, dean of the faculty of arts and social sciences at SFU. "And he is committed to putting this research to work for Canadians, whether through improving public policies or increasing the understanding of economic issues."Lipsey's most important research discoveries - such as the General Theory of Second Best - challenged theories that were based on "optimal" conditions and insisted economists apply their work to real-world situations. "I always felt that my work had to have relevance in the real world, or it wasn't worth doing," said Lipsey.Over the years, these successes earned him the Order of Canada and nine honorary degrees from universities across Canada and the U.K. Yet, despite these accolades, he remains most proud of his work in the classroom, mentoring students into successful careers and writing one of the most influential textbooks of the 20th century.An Introduction to Positive Economics, first published in 1963, swept away old thinking about economic theory and changed the way the entire profession thought about its work. Translated into 15 languages, Lipsey's textbook has introduced generations of students to the field of economics.Then in the 1980s, Lipsey began what he calls the "long, hard battle" over free trade, which ended in 1992 with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)."Free trade with the United States was a taboo subject when I started my research," said Lipsey. "It was considered political suicide for a politician to even mention it."But after writing a book on Canada-US economic relations, Lipsey -- then the senior economic advisor of the C.D. Howe Institute -- became convinced free trade would be a huge boon for Canada. He felt many Canadian industries were strong enough to stand on their own, and worried about a seeming rise in protectionism in the United States. Free trade, he concluded, would protect Canada from high US tariffs, and allow the country to prosper. He brought his ideas to Ottawa, TV talk shows and political debates. Before long, the politicians started listening, and Canadian trade policy changed forever. The SSHRC Gold Medal, worth $100,000, is awarded annually to a researcher whose work has advanced academic understanding in his field, enriched Canadian society and contributed to the country's cultural and intellectual life. Past winners include Montreal-born philosopher Charles Taylor and quality-of-life expert Alex Michalos.The award ceremony also recognized new and emerging researchers, already turning heads in the academic world. Queen's University's Jill Scott received the SSHRC Aurora Prize for her work on the role of forgiveness in a post-9/11 world. The prize, valued at $25,000, celebrates an outstanding new researcher who has demonstrated particular originality and insight in social sciences and humanities research. As the year's most outstanding SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship recipient, Valerie Henitiuk of Edmonton received the $10,000 SSHRC Postdoctoral Prize. She is studying the globalization of Japanese culture at Columbia University in New York. Michael Levi, a PhD student at King's College London, received the William E. Taylor Fellowship for his work on nuclear terrorism and international security. The $5,000 fellowship recognizes the year's most outstanding SSHRC doctoral award recipient. -30-Note to editors: SSHRC is a federal government agency that funds university-based research and graduate training through national peer-review competitions. SSHRC also partners with public and private sector organizations to focus research and aid the development of better policies and practices in key areas of Canada's social, cultural and economic life.For additional information on this release and other SSHRC research projects, check www.sshrc.ca
RICHARD LIPSEYSSHRC Gold Medal for Achievement in ResearchFrom revolutionizing the teaching of economics to re-shaping the Canadian economy through free trade, Richard Lipsey may just be the most influential economist in Canada today.The professor emeritus of Simon Fraser University won the 2005 SSHRC Gold Medal for Achievement in Research for his many contributions to economic research, teaching and policy over the past 50 years. "I always felt that my work had to have relevance in the real world, or it wasn't worth doing," says Lipsey. "And that idea was as much an inspiration for my pure research projects as it was for my teaching and policy work."One of Lipsey's most important contributions centres on methodology -- specifically how to make economic theories useful in an imperfect world. His papers on the General Theory of Second Best, the Phillips Curve and a wide range of other topics challenged accepted truths and changed the way economists, policy-makers and business leaders carried out their work.Over the years, these successes earned Lipsey an Order of Canada, a fellowship in the Econometric Society and nine honorary degrees from Canadian and British universities. But, despite these accolades, he remains most proud of his work in the classroom, mentoring young students into successful careers and writing one of the most influential textbooks of the 20th century. An Introduction to Positive Economics, first published in 1963, swept away old thinking about economic theory and changed the way the entire profession carried out its work. Translated into 15 languages, Lipsey's textbook has introduced generations of students to the field of economics."It was practically the only textbook used in England for 35 years," says Lipsey. "Every time I went through customs people would recognize my name and ask if I was really the guy who wrote the book."And as much as his work has changed the profession, it has also re-shaped Canadian economic history. In the early 1980s, Lipsey became senior economic advisor at the C.D. Howe Institute and began what he calls a "long, hard battle" over free trade with the United States. He wrote three books on the subject as well as pamphlets and speeches that helped make free trade Canada's largest and most controversial policy debate of the past 50 years. "The free trade debate occupied me for almost eight years," says Lipsey. "I was doing scholarly work, researching and writing papers on the topic, but I was also doing the dirty stuff-appearing on TV talk shows and debatesÂ… It was exhausting."Yet, 25 years later, Lipsey still doesn't show signs of slowing down. The same intellectual curiosity and practicality that inspired his earlier works has now led him to examine the connections between technological change, social transformation and economic growth. With a new book just published and continuing requests for advice from government departments, Lipsey continues to shape Canada's economic and intellectual life.
