For the past 20 years, Dr. Arthur McDonald has been the scientific and operational leader of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) project, a major experiment which has provided revolutionary insight into the properties of neutrinos and energy generation in the sun’s core. Working in the world’s deepest underground laboratory, the SNO team discovered that neutrinos (sub-atomic particles considered the basic building blocks of the universe) change from one type to another on their journey to Earth from the sun.
Funded by an international group of agencies, including the National Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Province of Ontario, the U. S. Department of Energy, and the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, and including public- and private-sector partnerships with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Vale-INCO, the project has enabled Canada to secure a leading role internationally in neutrino physics and astrophysics.
As SNO Project Director, Dr. McDonald led the extensive international collaboration to accomplish the analysis and presentation of scientific results. These results are helping to guide theoretical studies of how neutrinos are to be included in the Standard Model of Elementary particles and are motivating experiments at the new SNOLAB for further understanding neutrino properties and their effects in the early universe.
The Killam prizes are Canada’s most distinguished awards for outstanding career achievements in health sciences, engineering, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. They are presented annually by the Canada Council for the Arts. Dr. McDonald’s award is in the field of natural sciences.
“These results are helping to guide theoretical studies of how neutrinos are to be included in the Standard Model of Elementary particles and are motivating experiments at the new SNOLAB for further understanding neutrino properties and their effects in the early universe,” reads the Killam citation.
Now the Gordon and Patricia Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Dr. McDonald’s numerous awards include:
- 1998 Killam Research Fellowship,
- the 2003 Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal as Canada's top scientist;
- the Bruno Pontecorvo Prize from Russia in 2005
- Recipient of the John C. Polyani Prize along with the SNO team in 2006
- Appointed to the Order of Canada in 2007
- the 2007 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics
- the Tom W. Bonner Prize of the American Physical Society and a Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Canadian Association of Physicists.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the UK and Commonwealth, Dr. McDonald holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics from Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, and a PhD from the California Institute of Technology.
Canada Council for the Arts Release
Queen's University Press Release
For more information contact:
Ms. Samantha Kuula
Science Education & Outreach Officer
Phone: (705) 692-7000 ext. 2222
Email: skuula@snolab.ca
Website: www.snolab.ca |
To report problems please contact