Canadian Nobel Prize Winners

Alice Munro

Nobel Win: 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature for  “master of the contemporary short story.” 

Alice Ann Laidlaw was born in Wingham, Ontario to parents who ran a mink and fox farm. After two years of study, she left the University of Western Ontario because she did not have the funds to continue. She married James Munro, and the couple moved to Victoria, B.C. where they ran a bookstore while raising their three daughters.  As a mother and housewife, Munro did not think she had the time to write a novel so she began to write short stories.  She had wanted to be a writer since she was 14, but it was not until the late-1960s and early-1970s that she started to see her work published. She did however have her stories broadcast on the CBC throughout the 1950s and 60s. Munro’s first book of short stories, Dance of the Happy Shades, was written over a 15-year period. By 1973 Munro had moved back to Ontario after her divorce from James; she would later marry Gerald Fremlin who she knew from her time at university. Munro continued to pursue her career as a writer and stuck to the short story genre, using her own life experiences, family, homestead and hometown in Canada as a backdrop for her work.   

By the 1980s Munro was well known as a Canadian fiction short story writer due to the amount of her work being published, and the reception of various awards.  In 1976 she accepted an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario and could finally call herself a graduate.  In 2013 Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Canadian-based woman author to receive a Nobel in that category. Munro was nominated because of her work as a writer of short stories, which foster a deep connection between readers and the characters while creating a sense of belonging to her descriptive Canadian imagery. Munro said,  “the small town is like a stage for human lives,”  which is one of the reasons she features them so heavily in her short stories. She has spent much of her life in a small North American town, Clinton, Ontario, and has remained focused on the creation of short stories, imbuing them with what it means to really live life. Canadian readers can usually find some connection to places they have lived or visited, making her stories relatable and familiar. J.R. Struthers, a Professor from the University of Guelph, who is an expert on Munro’s work, has said,  “And yet reading an Alice Munro story is such a uniquely and absolutely energizing, humbling, transcendent experience.  It is also an extremely intimate experience.”  In Munro’s short stories and collections of stories, such as Lives of Girls and Women and Who Do You Think You Are?, readers are thrust into life in a small town and can piece together the life Munro and her family lived.  

To learn more about Alice Munro and the journey towards her literary voice,  click here! 

Willard Boyle

Nobel Win: 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics  “for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor.”  Awarded jointly with American physicist George E. Smith & shared with physicist Charles Kao. 

Willard Sterling Boyle was born in Nova Scotia but grew up in northern Quebec, where he was homeschooled by his mother, who fostered a sense of curiosity in him. At 14, Boyle began his studies at Lower Canada College and later attended McGill University. By 1943 he was flying Spitfires for the Fleet Air Arm, which he joined after serving with the Royal Canadian Navy. After the Second World War, he returned to his studies at McGill, achieving a bachelor's and master’s degree in science and then completing his doctorate in physics by 1950. Boyle went on to teach physics at the Royal Military College of Canada, and in 1953 began working as a research associate in Murray Hill, New Jersey for the Bell Labs.  During his time there, which he describes as always challenging, he worked on 18 patents and made several discoveries. 

In 1962, alongside Don Nelson, they created the first continuously operating Ruby LASER. In the same year, he was named Director of Space Science and Exploratory Studies at Bellcomm, a division of the lab. As Director, he supported the Apollo space program, helping a team select lunar landing sites. It was during a brainstorming session for an electronic memory design in 1969, that led Boyle and George Smith to the creation of a light-sensitive charge-coupled device (CCD), which would later bring them the Nobel Prize in Physics. The light-sensing charge-coupled device is commonly used in digital cameras, video cameras and optical scanners. When a grid of light-sensitive cells in the sensor are exposed to light they emit electrons which cause the cells to become electrically charged. A voltage is applied to the cells generating electrical signals and these create the digital image. The CCD has become integral to almost all photographic technology, as it acts as the electronic eye within the camera. When it comes to the field of laser technology, Boyle is known as a pioneer, and his co-creation of the CCD secured a lasting legacy within digital imaging technology. Not only did Boyle win the Nobel Prize in Physics, but he was also appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2010, the highest level of that award. 

To learn more about Willard Boyle and his inventive vision for the charged-coupled device,  click here! 

Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

Nobel Win: 1995 Nobel Peace Prize  “for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms.”  

In 1955, as a response to the creation of thermonuclear weapons, Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell issued a manifesto which called upon scientists, governments and the general public to follow this line of thinking,  “In view of the fact that in any future world war nuclear weapons will certainly be employed, and that such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind, we urge the governments of the world to realize, and to acknowledge publicly, that their purpose cannot be furthered by a world war, and we urge them, consequently, to find peaceful means for the settlement of all matters of dispute between them.”  The Russell-Einstein Manifesto was signed by eleven prominent scientists, including the first Japanese Nobel Laureate, Hideki Yukawa (Theoretical Physicist) and French Nobel Laureate Frédéric Joliot-Curie (Physicist), in the hopes that it would inspire scientists from all political backgrounds to join together and discuss the threat that civilization was under due to the creation of thermonuclear weapons.

The manifesto had the desired effect, inspiring a group of 22 well-known scientists to gather in 1957 for the first meeting of the Pugwash Conferences, which took place in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Pugwash was also the birthplace of Cyrus Eaton, an American Philanthropist who hosted this initial conference. Polish Physicist and signatory of the manifesto, Joseph Rotblat, became the Secretary General of the Pugwash Conferences. Along with Eaton, Yukawa, and Rotblat, some of the first scientists to take part included Nobel Laureates Hermann Joseph Muller and Linus Carl Powell. 

Since that first meeting, the Pugwash Conferences have evolved to include various international meetings, of which 400 have taken place, such as the June 1959 4th Conference: Arms Control and World Security that was held in Baden, Austria and the May 1969 5th Symposium: Role of Science and Scientists in National and World Affairs, which was held in Marianske Lazne, Czechoslovakia. They also organize international study groups, seminars and workshops such as the April 1974 Workshop on Chemical Warfare that was held in Helsinki, Finland and the November 2021 Seminar on ‘Contemporary Problems of Disarmament and Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, hosted in Moscow, Russia. By 1995, Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences received the Nobel Peace Prize  “for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms” and because of their commitment to “dialogue across divides”.  The work of the Pugwash Conferences continues today in its ongoing pursuit of nuclear disarmament and global peace.  

To learn more about The Pugwash Conferences and their pursuit of peace,  click here! 

John Polanyi

Nobel Win: 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry  “for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.”  Shared the prize with Dudley Herschbach and Yuan T. Lee. 

John Charles Polanyi actually took a while to warm up to science and his study of chemistry;  he went through a lot of trial and error while at university, feeling as if things were never properly explained to him in the lab . He found enjoyment and mental stimulus in his love of history and politics to keep him going while at school. It took time for the practice of ‘doing’ science before it began to drive his curiosity.  Polanyi’s father had worked for many years as a chemist, and once Polanyi started focusing on chemical physics during his undergraduate degree he felt at home . As a graduate student working towards his doctorate at Manchester University in England, Polanyi studied the rates of chemical reactions, which were seen as a function of concentration and temperature. 

After completing his Ph.D. in 1952, Polanyi took a postdoctoral research position with the Research Council of Canada, before his time at the NRC ended he worked in the Gerhard Herzberg’s Lab utilizing spectroscopy to  “examine vibrational and rotational excitation in iodine molecules” . He began teaching at the University of Toronto in 1956 but would not accept the title of university professor until 1974. While working alongside one of his graduate students, Kenneth Cashion, they first discovered chemiluminescence. When an atom molecule is in an excited state it emits infrared light. Through this discovery, Polyani developed the infrared chemiluminescence technique. Using spectroscopic analysis he could trace the exchange of chemical bonds and explain how the excess energy, which is created during the process of chemical reactions, is disposed of. Polyani’s work was published in 1958, and in 1986 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry which he shared with Yuan T. Lee (University of California) and Dudley Herschbach (Harvard University) for their work in chemical kinetics.  

When looking at Polanyi’s life since receiving the Nobel, it is obvious that he has committed himself to his work. Polanyi has earned 33 honorary degrees from various institutions, and many awards including the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering in 2007. He has remained passionate about public policy, especially where it concerns nuclear weapons and science, founding Canada’s Pugwash Group in 1960 where he served as the Chairman until 1978. Polanyi was elected to the Royal Society Society in 1971 and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2022 he was awarded the Andrei Sakharov Prize for seven decades of activism fighting for a nuclear-free world, his continued efforts to champion ‘pure’ science in society and public education, and his work on envisioning a peaceful future for all. 

To learn more about John Polanyi and his application of ‘doing’ science,  click here! 

Bertram Brockhouse

Nobel Win: 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics  “for the development of neutron spectroscopy.”  Awarded jointly with Clifford Shull.  

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta with early memories of being raised on a farm near the Milk River, Bertram Brockhouse was the eldest of three children to homesteaders Israel Bertram Brockhouse and Mable Emily (Neville) Brockhouse. In his early years, Brockhouse and his family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, which he believed was a crucial turning point in his education. The Great Depression forced the Brockhouse family to leave B.C. for Chicago in hopes of more prosperous living and it was there that Brockhouse got his first experience working in a lab for electronic companies. Brockhouse and his family eventually moved back to B.C. and in 1939  the Second World War was declared, leading Brockhouse to enlist in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Radio Telegrapher. This position evolved into a promotion to Electrical Sub-Lieutenant, causing Brockhouse to be assigned to the test facilities at the National Research Council in Ottawa.  

After the war, Brockhouse earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947 from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s degree in Physics in 1948 at the Low-Temperature Laboratory at the University of Toronto, where he also went on to earn his Ph.D. in 1950. Eager to start a career in physics, Brockhouse began work at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories of the National Research Council of Canada's Atomic Energy Project near Ottawa. There, he would do the work that won him the Nobel Prize. 

Collaborating with Donald Hurst, Myer Bloom, G. Goldschmidt, and N. Page in studying the resonant scattering of slow neutrons by strong absorbers, Brockhouse and the other members of the group proposed the idea of exploring the inelastic scattering of slow neutrons. This endeavour was thought to only be possible because the Chalk River's National Research Experimental (NRX) reactor was then the world's highest flux beam reactor. By 1952, Brockhouse had designed and built a triple-axis machine to measure the frequency distribution of phonon excitations in crystals. After much experimentation, Brockhouse and his collaborators ultimately developed the famed triple-axis spectrometer and, by 1958, a triple-axis spectrometer was operating at Chalk River's new National Research Universal reactor. Brockhouse played the dominant role in  laying the foundation for the field of neutron inelastic scattering or, as he often preferred to call it, neutron spectroscopy . In 1994, Brockhouse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, which was shared by the Nobel Committee with Clifford Shull, who, although unlinked to Brockhouse’s team, had also been working on the study of techniques related to scattering neutrons. Bertram Brockhouse died in Hamilton, Ontario on October 13, 2003 at the age of 85.

To learn more about Bertram Brockhouse in a graphic illustrated series,  click here! 

Michael Smith

Nobel Win: 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry  “for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studies.”  Shared with Kary B. Mullis. 

Born in Blackpool, England, Michael Smith was a biochemist and joint recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. After obtaining a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester in 1952, Dr. Smith moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to conduct post-doctoral work under Nobel Laureate Har Gobind Khorana at the British Columbia Research Council. He then worked at the Fisheries Research Board of Canada Laboratory before taking a position as a professor at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine. 

Site-directed mutagenesis is the method of making intentional mutational changes to a DNA sequence. This biochemical method allows scientists to take fragments of DNA and create a targeted change that gets inserted into a plasmid (chromosomal DNA molecule). Scientists have used site-directed mutagenesis to research gene therapy for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell disease, hemophilia, and cancer. Additionally, site-directed mutagenesis is routinely used in food science, technology and everyday items such as bleach. Smith’s contributions are essential to the research of immunodeficiency and hereditary diseases as well as cancer research. By understanding mutations found in DNA,  attempts to fix or eradicate those mutations that cause illness can lead to cures and scientific breakthroughs in medicine and healthcare.  

To learn more about Michael Smith and his contributions to medical history,  click here! 

Gerhard Herzberg

Nobel Win: 1971 Nobel Prize in Chemistry  "for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals."  

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Gerhard Herzberg was a German-Canadian physicist that fled Nazi Germany with his wife Luise to Canada in 1935, with an invitation to teach at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). He obtained his degree in engineering (Dr-Ing) from the Darmstadt University of Technology and proceeded to lecture and study across Germany and England with some of the greatest physicists of the day. Between 1935 and 1945, Dr. Herzberg helped establish a spectroscopy lab at USask and published the first two volumes of his now-classic textbooks on molecular spectra and molecular structure. 

Herzberg’s influence on the National Research Council was profound. Starting in 1948, the research that Herzberg’s teams produced resulted in worldwide acclaim and a Nobel Prize for Herzberg in 1971. Dr. Herzberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals. When Herzberg began his research, atomic spectroscopy was providing insights into the structure of atoms, but little was understood about molecular band spectra— groups of tightly spaced spectral lines produced by molecules. Over his lifetime, he identified the spectra of numerous free radicals. He was also the first to identify the spectra of certain radicals in interstellar gas. 

To learn more about Gerhard Herzberg and his dedication to understanding the world at an atomic level,  click here! 

Lester B. Pearson

Nobel Win: 1957 Nobel Peace Prize  "for his crucial contribution to the deployment of a United Nations Emergency Force in the wake of the Suez Crisis."  

Lester B Pearson was a historian, diplomat, politician, and the 14th Prime Minister of Canada. Pearson received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1919 and was later awarded a two-year fellowship at Oxford University. Pearson excelled while at Oxford and earned another Bachelor of Arts with Second-Class Honours and a Master of Arts both in History. By 1924 Pearson joined the staff of the History Department at the University of Toronto but left academia in 1928 to accept a position as the first secretary in the Canadian Department of External Affairs. It was there that Pearson began making an impression in politics. In 1944, Pearson became the Canadian Ambassador to the United States and four years later he was appointed Secretary of State for External Affairs. 

Although too young to have enlisted when the First World War was declared (but having volunteered in hospital units abroad), Pearson was impacted by witnessing the effects of demilitarization at the war’s end - even more so by the eventual breakdown of the League of Nations.  At the end of the Second World War in 1945, Pearson was keen to prevent history from repeating itself and worked towards establishing the United Nations while posted as Ambassador in Washington D.C. in an effort to maintain peace and global cooperation. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Pearson, alongside Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, organized the United Nations Emergency Force and became the “fathers of peacekeeping.” It was this achievement that earned Pearson the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. Pearson went on to become the Prime Minister of Canada between 1963 and 1968 before settling into retirement. Former Prime Minister Pearson died in December 1972 at the age of 75, in his home in Ottawa. 

To learn more about Lester B. Pearson and his role in international peacekeeping,  click here !

William Giauque

Nobel Win: 1949 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for  “for his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, particularly concerning the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures.”  

Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, William Giauque grew up in Michigan for most of his childhood as his parents were U.S. citizens. He and his family returned to Canada following his father’s death, where he attended high school and eventually sought to pursue a career as an electrical engineer at a local power plant. After working briefly at the Hooker Electro-Chemical Company, Giauque pursued a Bachelor of Science and later a Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Giauque was interested in the third law of thermodynamics and proving its validity as a basic law of nature. 

In 1949, Giauque was recognized “for his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, particularly concerning the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures.” He developed a magnetic refrigeration device to get as close to absolute zero (-273° Celsius), which allowed for the observation of substances and elements at a temperature previously unattainable. This discovery also led to improvements in various everyday materials such as better gasoline and stronger steel.

To learn more about William Giauque and his contributions to the world of thermodynamics and chemistry,  click here! 

Frederick Banting

Nobel Win: 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine  “for the discovery of insulin.”  Awarded jointly with John J. R. Macleod, and Banting chose to share his half of the award with Charles Best. 

Born in Alliston, Ontario, Frederick Banting (b.1891- d.1941) was a physician, medical researcher, and painter. Credited with the co-discovery of insulin, Banting remains the youngest person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to date. Banting enlisted and served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I; his studies at the University of Toronto were fast-tracked to get more doctors to join the war effort. After the war ended in 1918, Banting was licensed to practice medicine and surgery by the Royal College of Physicians of London. 

In 1920, Banting’s interest in insulin research became piqued after reading several articles about diabetes research by leading experts in the field- Opie, Minkowski and Sharpie-Schafer. He became interested in proving that the isolation of insulin within the pancreas was physiologically possible. Banting then approached J.J.R. Macleod at the University of Toronto, who provided Banting, and eventually Charles Best, a laboratory and experimental animals to conduct their research. By 1922, the team had successfully discovered how to isolate, extract, and purify insulin from the pancreas of dogs and later cattle. Later that year, Leonard Thompson became the first to receive an insulin injection at Toronto General Hospital. Although Banting and Mcleod were the only two awarded the Nobel, Banting shared his portion of the prize money and the honours with his colleague Charles Best. 

Post-insulin discovery, Banting was elected to the provincially funded Banting and Best Chair of Medical Research. He served as the Honourary Consulting Physician to three hospitals in Toronto. Banting shifted focus toward silicosis (occupational lung disease), cancer, and the revival of drowning victims. He died in a plane accident after the plane met poor weather while leaving Gander, Newfoundland, for England.  

To learn more about Frederick Banting and the legacy of Insulin,  click here! 

John James Rickard Macleod

Nobel Win: 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for the discovery of insulin”. Awarded jointly with Frederick Banting, and MacLeod chose to share his half of the award with James B. Collip.

Born in Clunie, Scotland, John James Rickard Macleod (b.1876 – d.1935) was a biochemist and physiologist best known for his role in the discovery of insulin. After graduating from the University of Aberdeen, before moving to the United States. While in the US, Macleod became interested in carbohydrate metabolism and diabetes. In 1916, Macleod took up a position at McGill University as a professor before moving to the University of Toronto. In 1920, Frederick Banting approached Macleod with a research project that sought to prove and isolate insulin production in the pancreas.  

Initially, Macleod was hesitant about joining Banting’s pursuit of isolating insulin as a cure for diabetes but eventually agreed to provide Banting, and his research assistant Charles Best, with the laboratory and experimental animals required for their research. Although the relationship between researchers was tumultuous, Banting, Best, Macleod, and biochemist James B. Collip were able to successfully produce and extract insulin from the pancreases of dogs and later cattle. By 1922, Leonard Thompson became the first person to receive an insulin injection at Toronto General Hospital. A year later, Macleod and Banting were co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their life-saving discovery.  

To learn more about John J. R. MaCleod and his impact on the discovery of insulin,  click here! 

Ernest Rutherford

Nobel Win: 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry  “for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances.”  Shared with Frederick Soddy, who later went on to win his own Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921. 

Born in Nelson, New Zealand, Ernest Rutherford was a physicist now referred to as the “father of nuclear physics”. Most of Rutherford’s work was conducted at McGill University in Montréal, including the discoveries of radioactive half-life, the element radon, and alpha and beta radiation. He was the first Nobel Laureate to receive the prize for carrying out work in Canada. 

In 1902, Rutherford and collaborator Frederick Soddy theorized that elements could disintegrate and reform as other elements. The early work carried out at McGill University would be the work that would later earn the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances.” His most famous research would occur after he was awarded the Nobel Prize and would later make the revolutionary discovery of the hydrogen atom or what he later called protons. 

To learn more about Ernest Rutherford and his contributions to the world of physics,  click here! 

Michael Houghton

Nobel Win: 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus." Awarded jointly with Qui-Lim Choo, George Kuo and Daniel W. Bradley.

Born in the United Kingdom, Dr. Michael Houghton has been a virologist at the University of Alberta since 2010. The 1989 discovery of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) earned Dr. Houghton and partners – George Kuo and Qui-Lim Choo – the Nobel in Physiology or Medicine in 2020. The discovery of HCV was a revolutionary discovery that resulted in the near elimination of HCV from blood supplies and a reduction of new annual infections by 80% by 1996. 

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that has potential life-threatening outcomes when undiagnosed, such as liver scarring (cirrhosis), end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. Due to the discovery of the virus by Houghton, Kuo and Choo, in most cases, Hepatitis C is screened, diagnosed and treated over a few months. Dr. Houghton and his team are currently working towards a vaccine for Hepatitis C. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Houghton has been working to produce a Covid-19 vaccine, having had success developing a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-1 pandemic, although it turned out to be needless. 

To learn more about Michael Houghton and his impact on modern health and medicine,  click here! 

Andrew Schally

Nobel Win: 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain". Half awarded jointly between Dr. Schally & Dr. Roger C. L. Guillemin, with the remaining half of the Nobel Prize being awarded to Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, "for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones". 

Dr. Andrew Schally was born in Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) and fled Poland with his family during the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. Dr. Schally studied in the United Kingdom before moving to Canada to obtain his doctorate in endocrinology from McGill University in 1957. In the same year, Dr. Schally continued his research on hypothalamic hormones at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he and fellow researchers conducted the research that would eventually earn them a Nobel Prize. 

Dr. Schally and fellow researcher Roger Guillemin successfully extracted hormones from the brains of pigs and sheep on a scale that allowed the researchers to examine the structures of the hypothalamic hormone. Dr. Schally is noted for isolating and producing three hormones that are produced in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for regulating the pituitary (hormone) glands. It was this breakthrough discovery that led to Schally and two others being awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1977. Dr. Schally’s discovery would eventually lead to other advancements in hormone therapy for birth control and cancer treatments.

To learn more about Andrew Schally and his advancements in hormone research,  click here! 

Donna Strickland

Nobel Win: 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses". Half awarded jointly between Dr. Strickland & Dr. Gérard Mourou, with the remaining half of the Nobel Prize being awarded to Arthur Ashkin "for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems". 

Donna Strickland is a Canadian physicist born in Guelph, Ontario. Dr. Strickland had an interest in physics and math from a young age and excelled throughout high school before going to McMaster University. She then pursued her doctoral degree at the University of Rochester. She would carry out the work that would later earn her a Nobel Prize in Physics during her time at the University of Rochester. Dr. Strickland’s work in laser amplification through the use of chirped pulse amplification, a method created by her research supervisor and co-recipient Gerard Mourou would eventually open a new field of “fundamental science called high-intensity laser physics” according to Dr. Strickland.  

Chirped pulse amplification or CPA, was developed by Mourou and Strickland in 1985. CPA is a form of amplification that creates “ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses”. The CPA method allows for a higher intensity pulse without damaging the laser. The process of chirped pulse amplification has many uses including corrective eye surgery (LASIK) and precise cutting within the industry sector. Dr. Strickland is only the third woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie and Maria Goeppert Mayer. 

To learn more about Donna Strickland and her strides in the physics of optical pulses,  click here!