OTTAWA, June 15, 2007 — The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, today announced the creation of the Government of Canada's new Science, Technology and Innovation Council and the appointment of Dr. Howard Alper as Chair of the Council.
This new Council will provide the government with policy advice on science and technology issues and will produce regular national reports that measure Canada's science and technology performance against international standards of excellence.
"I am pleased that Dr. Alper has agreed to take on the task of chairing and assisting us in building this new Council. Under his leadership, the Council will develop integrated advice to government to help make Canada one of the world's innovation leaders," said Minister Bernier.
Canada's Science and Technology Strategy, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage, highlighted the need to revitalize external science and technology advisory bodies by having a single integrated advisory body with a stronger voice. The Strategy committed the government to consolidate external advisory bodies and launch the new Science, Technology and Innovation Council.
Dr. Alper is a respected member of the science community both internationally and domestically, and he brings extensive knowledge and expertise of science and technology issues. He has served as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies and on private-sector boards. Dr. Alper is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received a number of prestigious fellowships and major awards, including being the first recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
Biographical notes and a backgrounder for review are attached.
For more information, please contact:
Isabelle Fontaine
Office of the Honourable Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry
613-995-9001
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Backgrounder
Science, Technology and Innovation Council
The Science and Technology Strategy committed to the establishment of a new Science, Technology and Innovation Council reporting to the Minister of Industry. The Council will be a non-governmental advisory body that provides the Minister of Industry with evidence-based policy advice on science and technology issues and produces regular national reports that measure Canada's Science and Technology performance against international standards of excellence.
The Council will consist of a Chair and 10 to 12 members whose work will be administratively supported by a Secretariat housed within Industry Canada.
Biographical Notes
Howard Alper is currently Visiting Executive at the International Development Research Center (IDRC), and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Ottawa. The basic research Dr. Alper has been pursuing spans organic and inorganic chemistry, with potential applications in the pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and commodity chemical industries.
He has discovered new reactions using homogeneous, phase transfer, and heterogeneous catalysis (e.g. clays, dendrimers). He has also used chiral ligands in metal catalyzed cycloaddition and carbonylation reactions, and succeeded in preparing valuable products in pharmacologically active form. He has published 490 papers, has 37 patents, and has edited several books.
Dr. Alper has received a number of prestigious Fellowships including the E.W.R. Steacie (NSERC, 1980-82), Guggenheim (1985-86), and Killam (1986-88) Fellowships. Major awards to Dr. Alper inclde the Alcan Award for Inorganic Chemistry (1986), Bader Award for Organic Chemistry (1990), Steacie Award for Chemistry (1993), all of the Canadian Society for Chemistry. The Chemical Institute of Canada has presented Dr. Alper with the Catalysis Award (1984), the Montreal Medal (2003), and the CIC Medal (1997), its highest honour. He also received the Urgel-Archambault Prize (ACFAS) in physical sciences and engineering. In 2000, the Governor General of Canada presented him with the first Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal in Science and Engineering. The following year, he was given the National Merit Award for contributions to the Life Sciences. In 2002, he received the Le Sueur Memorial Award of the Society of Chemical Industry (U.K.), and the award of Officer, National Order of Merit by the President of the Republic of France. In 2004, he was made Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Research Society of India, and in 2006, Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada.
He has served on a number of NSERC committees (e.g. Committee on Research Grants), and as Chair of the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE).
Dr. Alper chairs the Steacie Prize committee (NRC), and is a member or chair of several corporate boards. He represents Canada on the NATO Science Committee. Dr. Alper was appointed as a Titular Member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (1996), and as an Officer of the Order of Canada (1999). He was named President of the Royal Society of Canada for a two-year term commencing November 2001. In 2004, he was elected for a three year term as Co-Chair of the Inter-American Network of the Academies of Sciences (IANAS). In December 2006, he was elected Co-Chair of the InterAcademy Panel (IAP) for a three-year term.
