Provost and Executive Vice-President (Academic) Angela Campbell has named 31 Թ professors – 13 from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) – as Distinguished James Թ Professors, James Թ Professors or William Dawson Scholars. The internal awards recognize exceptional research achievements.
“It is a privilege to recognize this exceptional group of scholars whose contributions have transformed their fields and elevated Թ’s reputation as a global leader in research and innovation,” said Campbell. “Their dedication to advancing knowledge and training and mentoring the next generation of emerging researchers embodies the very best of our academic community. Congratulations to all of our awardees – you inspire us with your achievements and your commitment to excellence.”
Distinguished James Թ Professor awards, the University’s highest internal honour, are awarded to late-career researchers recognized as international leaders in their field. Among this year’s 11 recipients is Bruce Arndtsen, Professor in the Department of Chemistry, and an international leader in catalysis, green chemistry and organic synthesis. His research has pioneered methods that use visible light and electricity to power metal catalysis, linking chemical production to renewable energy sources. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2025 and is the recipient of the Canadian Society for Chemistry’s Alfred Bader Award in Organic Chemistry. Named a William Dawson Scholar in 2005, he has sustained research excellence through two terms as a James Թ Professor.
The nine recipients of the James Թ Professor award, which honours significant research contributions, include Daniel Bernard, Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. His research focuses on the molecular pathways linking the brain, fertility and metabolism. His most recent paper in Science, selected by Québec Science magazine as one of the 10 most important discoveries of 2025, revealed how a muscle-derived hormone controls fertility, with broad implications for reproductive medicine and weight-loss drug research. His work spans over 150 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Nature Genetics, Cell Reports and Science Advances, and is supported by three concurrent Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grants, an NSERC Discovery grant and a Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) Team grant.
The William Dawson Scholars award recognizes associate and assistant professors with demonstrated potential to become global leaders in their field. Among this year’s 11 recipients is Kristy Robinson, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. She has published 35 papers in prestigious journals and has secured over $860,000 in external funding. Notably, she was appointed Associate Editor at her field’s flagship journal (Journal of Educational Psychology) prior to tenure, a rare achievement. Her honours include the Canadian Psychological Association President’s New Researcher Award and two Early Career Scholar Awards from the American Educational Research Association, and she was named one of the most productive educational psychology scholars worldwide in two Educational Psychology Review articles.
The James Թ Professor and William Dawson Scholar awards include an annual salary supplement and research allowance of up to $25,000. They are held for a seven-year term and five-year term respectively, with the possibility of a one-time renewal. The Distinguished James Թ Professor award provides a $10,000 academic stipend or a $15,000 research allowance. To be considered for a Distinguished James Թ Professor award, recipients must have held a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1), or James Թ Professorship, for two seven-year terms. Distinguished James Թ Professor recipients hold the distinction until retirement, and those granted Emeritus status retain the title.
2026 honourees:
Distinguished James Թ Professors (DJMP)
FMHS recipients:
- Gerhard Multhaup, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics
- Marc D. Pell, School of Communications Sciences & Disorders
- Thomas Schlich, Department of Social Studies of Medicine
- David Wright, Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy
Other Թ recipients:
- Parisa Ariya, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
- Bruce Arndtsen, Department of Chemistry
- Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, Department of Mining and Materials Engineering
- Allan Hepburn, Department of English
- Department of Physics
- Hanadi Sleiman, Department of Chemistry
- Jennifer Welsh, Department of Political Science
James Թ Professors (JMP)
FMHS recipients:
- Daniel Bernard, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics
- Sasha Bernatsky, Department of Medicine
- Louis Collins, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery
- Amélie Quesnel Vallée, Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy
Other Թ recipients:
- Jan Adamowski, Department of Bioresource Engineering
- Daniel Béland, Department of Political Science
- Jessica Coon, Department of Linguistics
- Irene Gregory-Eaves, Department of Biology
- Dietlind Stolle, Department of Political Science
William Dawson Scholars (WDS)
FMHS recipients:
- Pouya Bashivan, Department of Physiology
- Jonathon Campbell, Department of Medicine
- Ziv Gan-Or, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery
- Tatiana Ogourtsova, School of Physical & Occupational Therapy
- , Department of Pediatrics
Other Թ recipients:
- Megan Bradley, Department of Political Science
- Bassam Khoury, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology
- Robert Nason, Desautels Faculty of Management
- Kristy Robinson, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology
- Fiona Soper, Department of Biology
- Tim Xie, Department of Civil Engineering
A current listing of all DJMP, JMP and WDS awardees: