Briefs · Education and Upskilling
A Historian of War and a Chemist of the Cosmos
Verdict: McMaster honoured a historian of war and a chemist of the cosmos.
At fall convocation, two graduates received the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards. One reshaped how Canada remembers war. The other explores the chemistry of space itself.
Jonathan Vance ‘85 took the Distinguished Alumni Award for the Arts. He is a Distinguished University Professor and J.B. Smallman Chair in History at Western University, where he teaches military history, Canadian history and social memory. His books include the award-winning Death So Noble and A Gallant Company, the true story of The Great Escape. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Chérif Matta ‘02 took the Distinguished Alumni Award for the Sciences. He earned his PhD in chemistry at McMaster in 2002 and is now Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Mount Saint Vincent University. His work bridges chemistry, physics, biology and astronomy. At McMaster he discovered the hydrogen-hydrogen bonding interaction. His recent work on diffuse interstellar bands tackles a century-old mystery in astrochemistry.
Two alumni, two disciplines, one university. History remembers the past. Chemistry explains the stars. McMaster, it seems, teaches both.
Read the original at McMaster News
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