Chad Gaffield, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa and president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, received CAUT’s 2007 Distinguished Academic Award.

The award is given annually to an academic who demonstrates excellence in teaching, in research and in service to the academy and the community.

“Gaffield’s contributions over the past 20 years were numerous and broad-based and present a perfect fit for the criteria of this award,” CAUT president Greg Allain said April 28 during the award ceremony. “He is the consummate academic whose teaching, research and service has contributed noticeably to the lives of his students, his institution, his field of study and to the community.”

Recipients receive a $1,000 honorarium and a plaque and are invited to address CAUT’s spring Council at the time of the award presentation. Gaffield’s address will be published by CAUT later this year. A transcript of the speech can also be found on CAUT’s web site.

Gaffield is the second recipient of the award. Bernard Robaire, professor of pharmacology and theraputics at McGill University, received the award in 2006.