Order, Ordre!

Civilian honours such as the Order of Canada and the Ordre National du Québec recognize exceptional contributions to society and three McGill professors were recently named to these select ranks.

Civilian honours such as the Order of Canada and the Ordre National du Québec recognize exceptional contributions to society and three McGill professors were recently named to these select ranks.

RODERICK A. MACDONALD, a professor in the Faculty of Law, was named to the Order of Canada for “his accomplishments as a legal scholar, notably his contributions to the advancement of law and policy in Canada and abroad.” Macdonald has served on a number of provincial, federal and international commissions and was also the first law professor to act as the President of the Royal Society of Canada, between 2009 and 2011. In recognition of Macdonald’s leadership of the RSC, the Society recently announced that its  library at its new Ottawa headquarters will be  named the Macdonald Reading Room.

WAGDI GEORGE HABASHI, professor of mechanical engineering, and BARTHA MARIA KNOPPERS, director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy, were nominated to the Ordre National du Québec. Habashi, a Knight of the Ordre, was recognized for his pioneering research in computational fluid dynamics and its contributions to aviation and aerospace safety. Knoppers, an Officer of the Ordre, was lauded for her influential research in a host of subjects in biomedical ethics, from stem cells, cloning  and assisted reproduction to public health and pharmacogenomics. She was also recognized for her work with national and international organizations such as UNESCO and the Human Genome Organization.