2013 Medal Winners | francais

The 2013 CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics

is awarded to

David Chettle

"I was surprised, encouraged, grateful to receive a ‘phone call from the President of the Canadian Association of Physicists to tell me that I had been awarded the Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal. Recognition from the leaders in the Physics community in Canada is both an honour and a very great encouragement and I am particularly grateful to those who must have invested considerable hard work in putting forward my nomination." winner citation

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) are pleased to announce that the 2013 CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics is awarded to David Chettle, McMaster University, in recognition of for his dedicated service to the Canadian physics community which has strengthened and raised the profile of physics as a profession. He has enthusiastically mentored a generation of medical, health and radiation physics students and has made physics an attractive career option for many. His development, maintenance and expansion of vital multi-disciplinary programs and infrastructure raised the profile of Canadian physics internationally; he played a key role in the DMBP; and his leadership has led to active participation by many in the physics community. announcement

Dr. David Chettle has dedicated 20 years to advancing Canadian physics. He is receiving the Kirkby Memorial Medal in recognition of his tireless service to the Canadian physics community, and his role in enhancing the profession and making physics an attractive career option. David has nurtured and overseen a number of programs at McMaster University, including undergraduate and graduate programs in medical and health physics. He forged new links between Mohawk College and McMaster University to provide a professional program in Medical Radiation Sciences and pioneered the McMaster Institute for Applied Radiation Sciences, facilitating new collaborations between scientists, engineers, and representatives of industry and government. In serving as Director of the McMaster Accelerator Laboratory and as Director Academic Operations of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, David has helped maintain and expand physics research infrastructure in Canada. Under David's influence, the generation of physics students that he has trained and mentored have gone on to become active members of the physics community. David himself is a long-time member of both the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP). In the late 1990’s, David was a key figure in restarting the CAP Division of Medical and Biological Physics (DMBP), and served a two-year term as Chair of the Division. David has been a leader in showing the benefits of multi-disciplinary collaboration, in the fields of medical physics, health physics, radiation biology and dosimetry. In the process, he has greatly enhanced the physics profession and has made physics an attractive career choice for many. Former students are in high demand from employers in a diverse range of fields, including the health care system, the energy sector, industry, and academia. Dr. Chettle’s integrity, ethical behavior and infectious enthusiasm for physics has had a broad and lasting impact, and as such he is a deserving recipient of the Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal. nominator citation

The Kirkby Memorial Medal was introduced in 1996 and is awarded biennially.

Dr. Chettle will be presented with the 2013 CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics during the 2013 CAP Congress banquet to be held on Thursday, May 30, 2013, at the Delta Hotel Montréal, Montréal, Québec. Please refer to the Congress program for the schedule of plenary talks by CAP medal winners. medal description

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics. cap description

The Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists is a scientific and professional organization composed of 465 medical physicists and graduate students working in the areas of medical imaging, cancer therapy, and medical biophysics, plus Corporate Members who are involved in these areas. The COMP also has a close relationship with the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM), which is the national certification body in Canada for clinical competence in physics applied to medicine. joint description

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For more information, please contact:

Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: (613) 562-5614
Fax: (613) 562-5615
E-mail: cap@uottawa.ca

or

Nancy Barrett
Executive Director
Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists
Tel: (613) 599-1948
Fax: (613) 599-1155
Email: nancy@medphys.cacap contact and joint contact