Acadia graduate wins Canada's top science prize
In March 2009, Dr. Corkum was awarded the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for science and engineering, which includes $1 million in research funding. The Herzberg Medal is the most prestigious honour conferred by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Dr. Corkum has also been elected as foreign member of the US National Academy of Science.
Paul Corkum graduated from Acadia University in 1965 with a B.Sc. in Physics, and continued his education at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. where he attained an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Physics.
Dr. Corkum began his career by accepting a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Research Council of Canada where he has remained ever since. He concentrated first on plasma physics and then on laser technology. Over the years, with this experimental background well developed, he has shifted his research focus to applying these new techniques to the emerging areas of ultrafast phenomena.
During his career, Dr. Corkum has received a host of awards and medals and has been appointed Canada Research Chair in Attosecond Photonics, Professor of Physics at Ottawa University and an Adjunct Professor at a number of other Canadian universities. In 2006, Acadia awarded Dr. Corkum an honorary Ph.D.