Exceptional Teachers and Researchers

Inspire Possibility

Great universities are populated by the world's great minds. Brilliant scholars who help us understand the human condition. Global pioneers, who open up new vistas of possibility. Humanitarians and teachers who draw out the best of their students' potential.

The late Michael Smith, founder of UBC's world-leading Biotechnology Laboratory, made the mark. A creative and distinguished scientist, he received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993 for his groundbreaking work in reprogramming segments of DNA. He helped launch a new era in genetics that has paved the way for a generation of UBC scientists who are stopping the world's deadliest diseases.

With exceptional foresight, Smith established a young team of intrepid global trailblazers. Scientists like Peter Wall Distinguished Professor Brett Finlay, who developed a cattle vaccine to stop E.coli, and is leading an accelerated Canadian program to find a SARS vaccine. Innovators like Marco Marra, whose team at the BC Cancer Agency deciphered the SARS genetic code in six short days, before anyone else on the planet. And researchers like Natalie Strynadka, winner of Canada's top young scientist award for her determined efforts to stop the world's drug-resistant superbugs.

As UBC boasts extraordinary researchers, it is also home to outstanding teachers. Shirley Sullivan, professor of classics, is a shining example. An accomplished researcher in her own right, she is one the university's most popular teachers and a winner of the UBC Killam Teaching award. She was one of several UBC faculty to be appointed to the Royal Society of Canada this year.

UBC will work over the next years to continue to attract top Canadian and international faculty and staff. Through such efforts it aims to advance academic excellence, and reflect the increasing diversity of our students. The university will also introduce innovative initiatives to promote outstanding teaching, civic involvement and the development of new learning technologies. These efforts will help cultivate UBC's stature as a global crossroads for learning.

UBC has been home to three Nobel laureates: the late chemistry professor Michael Smith, economics expert Robert Mundell, and psychology professor Daniel Kahneman. More than 150 UBC professors have been appointed to the Royal Society of Canada, the country's most prominent academy of scholars and scientists.

Peter Wall Distinguished Professor Brett Finlay has devised a ground-breaking rapid-response system to mobilize global resources in the face of emerging infectious diseases like SARS.

Related Links

• Michael Smith Laboratories
• Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
• Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies