Canada honours 2 Indo-Canadian academics for research on mankind betterment

TWO Indo-Canadian academics have been honoured with the ‘Order of Canada’, one of the North American nation’s most prestigious awards, for their research work to advance the betterment of mankind.

The names of professors Ajay Agrawal and Parminder Raina featured in a list published by the office of Mary Simon, the governor-general of Canada. Both have been invested into the order as members.

In a release published from her office, Simon said those being honoured “come from a variety of sectors, have achieved national and international success, and have shown ingenuity, innovation and generosity”.

The Order of Canada was created in 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s Head of State, to honour people “whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations, and whose compassion unites our communities”.

While the citation for Agrawal said he was selected for “his visionary leadership as an educator and entrepreneur, and for his mentorship of students and aspiring business owners”, that of Raina read it was for “his leading research in ageing and population health in Canada and for his impact on national policymaking in geriatric care services”.

Agarwal is a professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management who also founded the Creative Destruction Lab -- a leading incubator for innovators which focuses on cutting-edge areas, such as artificial intelligence and space technology.

Raina teaches at the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. According to his university biography, he “specialises in the epidemiology of ageing with emphasis on developing the interdisciplinary field of geroscience to understand the processes of ageing from cell to society”.

The list had in all 85 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Among the prominent names that featured were Donovan Bailey, an Olympic gold-medallist, and actor Sandra Oh.