Office of Public Affairs Acadia University Wolfville, Nova Scotia B0P 1X0 (902) 585-1362 Fax (902) 585-1072 News Release For Release: May 19, 2000

Seven Millennium Chairs for Acadia University

(Wolfville, NS) – Acadia University's contribution to research has once again been recognized, thanks to a federal government initiative. The university has received seven millennium chairs totalling $1 million in research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) that has earmarked $900 million to create 2000 new research chair positions across the country.

"I take the awards to Acadia as reflecting a recognition of its contribution to research and scholarship in general, as well as its strong contribution to developing students who become scholars and scientists," says Vice President Academic Dr. Michael Leiter.

Money allocated for each individual institution is divided into two funding brackets.  Tier I research chairs are senior and will receive $200,000 over a 5-year period, while Tier II, junior chairs, will be given $100,000 over the same time frame.  Acadia received support for four Tier II chairs and three Tier I positions. Other Maritime undergraduate universities also faired well, St. Francis Xavier and Saint Mary's each received six chairs and Mount Allison University five.

Many smaller undergraduate universities originally assumed that they would not receive millennium chairs.  "The smaller, primarily undergraduate universities owe a debt of gratitude to the leadership of Acadia’s president, Dr. Kelvin Ogilvie.  Dr. Ogilvie played a major role in convincing federal policy makers that strong undergraduate programs are an essential component of the nation's capacity to participate, or play a leadership role in the development of knowledge," states Dr. Leiter.

This most recent announcement, coupled with the recent creation of the Acadia Centre for Microstructural Analysis, and the allotment of almost a half million dollars in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC), demonstrate Acadia’s continuing commitment to innovation.

This new grant endeavour is part of a government plan to create a critical mass of world-class researchers by infusing a substantial amount of money into universities across Canada.  The federal government is trying to both offset the migration of Canadian scholars to other countries and attract foreign academics to Canadian research institutions.
 
 

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Published by: The Office of Public Affairs Last revised: June 2,  2000 URL: http://www.acadiau.ca/whatsnew/newsrelease/millenniumchairsrelease.htm