MONTREAL/December 3, 2007—
Erica Lehrer
Concordia University has been awarded a new Tier-2 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in the History of Genocide, for Dr. Erica Lehrer, in the department of History in the Faculty of Arts and Science. In addition, the Tier-2 Research Chair in Number Theory awarded in 2003 to Dr. Adrian Iovita, a professor in the department of Mathematics, has been renewed. Tier-2 chairs are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead their field. For each Tier 2 chair, the university receives $100,000 annually for five years.
“As demonstrated in Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage, the Government of Canada is committed to improving Canada’s international reputation for research excellence,” said the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry and minister responsible for the Canada Research Chairs Program. “By investing in the Canada Research Chairs Program, we are helping universities recruit and retain the most brilliant and promising researchers, and contributing to enable these institutions to become leaders in the fields of advanced science and technology.”
Erica Lehrer’s research addresses the far-flung social consequences of mass violence, using new empirical, culturally-attentive and comparative methodologies. Lehrer focuses on the meaning of past suffering to its victims, perpetrators, and bystanders; how such meaning is attached to material things and landscapes; the work it does to define and foster group boundaries, identification and affiliation; and how it influences future relations and actions.
Michael Di Grappa, Acting President of Concordia University, expressed his pleasure at the announcement saying, “Concordia is known for its strengths in this field of research and is home to the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS). This new Chair is another confirmation of the university’s role and commitment to shedding light on the human tragedy of genocide.”
As an innovative mathematical researcher, Dr. Iovita has already gained international recognition for his groundbreaking work in algebraic number theory and its application to geometry and arithmetic. He continually focuses on tackling complex problems that are at the leading edge of current mathematical thinking. Dr. Iovita's most recent work has been concentrated on one of the most dynamical theories to emerge in recent years, a theory known as p-adic cohomology.
The Canada Research Chairs program was launched in 2000 and helps universities attract and retain the best researchers and achieve excellence in the natural sciences and engineering, health services, social sciences and the humanities.
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Source :
Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
