Sponsored by the Canadian Council of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC)
The Clara Benson Award is presented to recognize a woman who has made a distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada.
View the Terms of Reference and list of Past Winners
The 2026 winner of the Clara Benson Award is:
Kathryn E. Preuss, MCIC
University of Guelph
Dr. Kathryn E. Preuss received a B.Sc. Honours with Great Distinction in Chemistry from the University of Lethbridge (1995). She completed a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Waterloo (2000), and undertook post-doctoral studies (NSERC PDF) at the University of Colorado (2000-01) and North Carolina State University (2001-02). In 2002, Dr. Preuss joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Guelph, where she has been a full Professor since 2015, and Chair of the department (2020-26). Dr. Preuss is an inorganic synthetic chemist, leading a research program focused on the design, synthesis, and characterization of materials that exhibit technologically-relevant properties (e.g., quantum, magnetic, ferroelectric, and optical phenomena) that arise from (supra)molecular architectures. She is engaged in supporting the chemistry research community, serving as the Secretary of the Inorganic Division of the CSC (2010-14), a member of the NSERC RTI review panel (2018-19) and DG evaluation group (2021-25), and Associate Editor for the ACS journal, Crystal Growth & Design (2019-). Notable awards and recognitions include the Alice Wilson Award of the Royal Society of Canada (2001), Alumna/us of the Year (U. Lethbridge, 2012), Tier II CRC (2009-19), and Research Leadership Chair (U. Guelph, 2021-24).
Past Winners