Jim Waldram was recently inducted into the Royal Society of Canada.

Two University of Saskatchewan researchers are amongst 90 Canadians to be named Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada this year.

Medical anthropologist Jim Waldram and chemical engineer Ajay Dalai were elected into the RSC on Sept. 9. The organization is Canada’s senior body for distinguished scholars and one of the country’s highest academic honours.

“I was thrilled,” Waldram said in an email to the Sheaf. “One dreams of being elected into the Royal Society. It is like the final approval of a career well-done.”

Waldram, who holds a PhD in medical anthropology, started at the U of S in 1983 in the native studies department. In 1999, he transferred to the department of psychology and in 2009 he was appointed a joint member of the departments of archaeology and anthropology. 

Over the past three decades, Waldram has become an international authority in the study of Aboriginal mental health issues and the cultural bases of healing and treatment. He has undertaken research all across northern Canada in remote Aboriginal communities, in urban areas, in medical clinics and in prisons.

His research has been widely funded by national funding agencies including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. His current research involves patterns of traditional healing among Maya peoples in Belize. 

Waldram is a former president of the Canadian Anthropology Society and a current Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology.

“You do not achieve this on your own, at least not in my case,” Waldram said. “I have had wonderful community and institutional partners over the years… it really feels like a team victory.”

Dalai has been a professor at the U of S since 1996 and holds a Canada Research Chair in Bioenergy and Environmentally Friendly Chemical Processing. In 2009, Dalai accepted the position of associate dean of research and partnerships for the College of Engineering, in addition to his professorship and supervisory role. 

His research primarily involves the production of fuels and fuel additives from organic compounds, and has resulted in numerous patents.

Dalai is a life member of the Indian Institute of Engineers, the Indian Catalysis Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and is an active member of the American Chemical Society as well as the Chemical Institute of Canada.

The RSC was established in 1882 with the primary objective of promoting learning and research in the arts, the humanities and the natural and social sciences by recognizing distinguished scholars, artists and scientists. Today, over 3,700 Fellows have been inducted into the society.

In order to be selected for a Fellowship, individuals must be nominated by a university president or a Fellow of the society. Nominators must also submit a package which includes letters of support from other scholars as well as a list of the nominee’s career achievements.

“In my case, former president Ilene Busch-Vishniac nominated me, using her presidential nominating powers,” Waldram said. “Jim Miller in history is a Fellow and he co-signed my nomination.”

Waldram says that the Fellowship is “a great testament to the value and importance of engaged, community-based scholarship, which is still undervalued in academia.”

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Photo: Supplied By Jim Waldram