Departmental Chairs and Research Directors are encouraged to nominate suitable applicants from other Universities and to facilitate the nomination of their young faculty by Chairs\Directors from other Universities. Each year the Canadian Physiological Society offers a Visiting Professorship to an outstanding young Canadian Physiologist. The purpose of the Visiting Professorship is to promote collaboration and exchange of information among investigators at Canadian Universities and to strengthen graduate training programs in physiological research.
Who was J.A.F. Stevenson?
The academic career of Professor James A.F. Stevenson (1918-1971) began at McGill where he graduated from Medical School during the war in 1942. He served in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps for 3 years. Following his return from overseas he moved to Yale University, where he spent a year as a fellow in Physiological Chemistry and then two years as Assistant Professor in Physiology and Psychology.
Later, in 1950, he was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario in the newly formed Medical Research Laboratory, under J.B. Collip. In 1951 he was promoted to Professor and Head of the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine. At that time the faculty complement in Physiology was a total of 33. Professor Stevenson was one of the founding members of the Faculty Association at Western. He acted as secretary at the first organizational meeting in April, 1955 and served on various committees in the association, including Pensions and Salaries. He served as Head of the Department of Physiology with great distinction for 19 years until he became Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. With his resignation in 1970, Dr. Stevenson was the last Professor of Physiology to hold the title of Head, as in 1968 the position of Head were replaced by Chairs with five-year terms. During his 20 years in Physiology, Stevenson promoted key changes in the medical curriculum. Physiology’s teaching role in the faculties of arts, nursing and science also expanded at this time, when the medical faculty moved to a new building on the main campus. During this period he also led an active research group in regulatory and integrative physiology, with a special interest in food and water and energy balance. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1969.
A man of great administrative and organizational ability, Professor Stevenson was a leader in the activities of several Canadian and international societies. He served as treasurer and then president of the Canadian Physiological Society and was a founding member of the Canadian Federation of Biological Societies. This umbrella organization was unique in the sense that is also brought together French and English speaking Canadian scientists into a national scientific organization. He served as editor of the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology for a great many years. His broad interests were shown by his active membership in the Nutrition Society, American Physiological Society and as a member of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. Professor Stevenson was also highly regarded as an academic and administrative leader at Western and served with distinction as a member of the Senate and the Board of Governors. He was Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the time of his death in 1971, ending two decades of active service to the University of Western Ontario.
(With thanks to Doug Jones for providing the bibliography.)
The society will provide travel expenses for the visiting professor; living expenses will be the responsibility of the host University. Nominations for the award are normally made by a Departmental Chair or Research Director to enable a distinguished young investigator from another Canadian Institution to visit the host university and to give a lecture and/or graduate seminars. The host department or research group can be at any one of the Canadian University Faculties of Medicine.
The candidate chosen to receive the Visiting Professorship will also present a lecture at an appropriate meeting sponsored by the Society. Partial reimbursement of expenses to attend the meeting will be the responsibility of the Canadian Physiological Society.
Selection of the awardee
The selection of the Visiting Professor will be the responsibility of the Council of the Canadian Physiological Society and will be based on the scientific achievements of the candidate. Nominees for this award will be, or are expected to become, members of the Canadian Physiological Society. The Visiting Professorship will not be awarded to candidates after the tenth year from receiving their first faculty position. In the event that more than one host University has requested the chosen recipient, the University which first placed the request will be given preference.
Nominations should be sent to the Secretary of the Society at the address given below. Each nomination should include a letter from the sponsor setting out the proposed itinerary and include the curriculum vitae of the candidate.
Nominations must be received by the Secretary before August 1. Electronic versions of letters of nomination and supporting documents should be sent to:
Dr. Harley Kurata
Alberta Diabetes Institute
6-002 Li Ka Shing Centre
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Canada T6G 2R3
e-mail: [email protected]
Stevenson Professorship Award Winners
1980-1981 Wayne W. Lautt, University of Saskatchewan
1981-1982 Tessa Gordon, University of Alberta and J.J. Miller University of British Columbia
1982-1983 T. Phil Hicks, University of Calgary
1983-1984 John Ciriello, University of Western Ontario
1984-1985 Peter C.K Leung, University of British Columbia
1985-1986 Quentin Pittman, University of Calgary
1986-1987 John F. Burka, University of Prince Edward Island
1987-1988 Kenneth Baimbridge, University of British Columbia
1988-1989 Brian McVicar, University of Ottawa
1989-1990 Dave McCrea, University of Manitoba
1990-1991 Don Smyth, University of Manitoba
1991-1992 Andrew J Rankin, Memorial University
1992-1993 John Hanrahan, McGill University
1993-1994 Réjean Dubuc, Université du Québec à Montréal
1994-1995 Carol-Ann Courneya, University of British Columbia
1995-1996 Rui Wang, University of Saskatchewan
1996-1997 David Fedida, Queen’s University
1997-1998 Jean-Claude LaCaille, Université de Montréal
1998-1999 John Greer, University of Alberta
1999-2000 No nominees
2000-2001 Gerald Zamboni, University of Calgary
2001-2002 Joseph R. Casey, University of Alberta
2002-2003 Stephen Scott, Queen’s University
2003-2004 No nominees
2004-2005 Yu Tian Wang, University of British Columbia and Vancouver Hospital
2005-2006 Lingyun (Lily) Wu, University of Saskatchewan
2006-2007 Jaideep S. Bains, University of Calgary
2007-2008 Paul Linsdell, Dalhousie University
2008-2009 Monica Gorassini, University of Alberta
2009-2010 Neil Magoski, Queen’s University
2010-2011 No nominee
2011-2012 Deda Gillespie, McMaster University
2012-2013 No nominee
2013-2014 No nominee
2014 -2015 No nominee
2015-2016 No nominee
2017-2018 No nominee
2018-2019 Miriam Spering, University of British Columbia
2019-2020 Dr. Andrew Pruszynski, Western University
2020-2021 Alex Quinn, Dalhousie University
