TORONTO: Two Indo-Canadian scholars, working on research to advance the betterment of humanity, have been honored with one of the country’s most prestigious awards, the Order of Canada.
Their names appeared on the list published by the office of Governor General of Canada Mary Simon. Both have been invested (as the granting of awards is described) in The Order as members.
They are Professors Ajay Agrawal and Parminder Raina. In a statement from his office, Simon said the appointees “come from a variety of sectors, have achieved national and international success, and have demonstrated ingenuity, innovation and generosity.”
The Order of Canada was established in 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s Head of State, to honor those “whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations and whose compassion unites our communities”.
Agrawal’s citation notes that he was selected for “his visionary leadership as an educator and entrepreneur, and for his mentorship of students and aspiring business owners.”
According to Raina, it was for “her cutting-edge research on aging and population health in Canada and for her impact on the development of national policies for geriatric care services”.
A professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Agrawal is also the founder of the Creative Destruction Lab, which has become a leading incubator for innovators, focusing on cutting-edge areas such as artificial intelligence and space technology.
In a letter to the CDL community in late June, Agrawal wrote, “We are rapidly approaching the kick-off of our eleventh year of operations. Our mission today is exactly the same as when we launched CDL in the fall of 2012: to improve the commercialization of science for the good of humanity. »
Raina is a professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. His academic biography states that he “specializes in the epidemiology of aging with an emphasis on developing the interdisciplinary field of gerosciences to understand aging processes from the cell to society.”
The list included 85 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Prominent names included Donovan Bailey, who won gold in the 100 meters at the 1996 Olympics, and actress Sandra Oh.
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