Sponsored by the E.W.R. Steacie Endowment Fund (Supported by the CSC Board and some Subject Divisions of the CIC and CSC)
The E.W.R. Steacie Award is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada.
Mark Lautens, FCIC
University of Toronto
Mark Lautens obtained a B.Sc. from the University of Guelph working in the laboratories of Gordon Lange. He obtained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison working with Barry M. Trost, followed by postdoctoral work at Harvard with David A. Evans. He joined the faculty at the University of Toronto in 1987 and became the AstraZeneca Chair in 1998. He currently holds the rank of University Professor and J.B. Jones Distinguished Professor. He held a Merck Frosst/NSERC Industrial Research Chair from 2003-2013. His research is involved with the use of catalysis to improve efficiency in the synthesis of bioactive molecules. Among his awards and honours are the CIC Medal, E.W.R. Steacie Award, A.P. Sloan Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Award, A.C. Cope Scholar, D.Sc. honoris causa, JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award, Killam Fellowship, Henry Marshall Tory Award and Officer of the Order of Canada. He has mentored more than 100 postdoctoral fellows and 80 graduate students. In recent years he has written Opinion pieces advocating for more funding for fundamental science, more support for graduate students and more active engagement of scientists in the political process. He regularly acts as a Presiding Officer and has sworn in thousands of new citizens of Canada.