City of Greater Sudbury Recognizes Dr. Arthur McDonald

For immediate release                                                     Thursday, December 17, 2015

City of Greater Sudbury Recognizes Dr. Arthur McDonald

The City of Greater Sudbury is recognizing the outstanding achievements of Dr. Arthur McDonald, co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics and Director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Deputy Mayor Al Sizer presented the professor emeritus of Queen’s University with an award for his significant contributions to Greater Sudbury at an event held at Science North this afternoon. This award will also remain on permanent display at SNOLAB in recognition of Dr. McDonald’s achievements.

“On behalf of Council and the City of Greater Sudbury, it is an honour and a privilege to recognize Dr. McDonald for the contributions he has made to our city, to science, and to our understanding of the world around us,” said Greater Sudbury Deputy Mayor Al Sizer. “I am proud of the calibre and significance of the advanced education, research and innovation that is performed in our community. Our city’s motto – come, let us build together – is evident in our growing knowledge sector, one of the pillars for local economic stimulus.” 

Dr. McDonald was Director of the SNO Project from 1989-2007 and continues to collaborate on the SNO+ and DEAP-3600 experiments underway at SNOLAB. He shares the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics with Takaaki Kajita of Japan, Director of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research and professor at the University of Tokyo.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm has recognized Kajita and McDonald for their key contributions to experiments which demonstrate that neutrinos undergo metamorphosis, a process that requires mass. The discovery, undertaken at SNO in Greater Sudbury, that neutrinos have a mass greater than zero, has changed the scientific community’s understanding of the innermost workings of matter and could prove crucial in our future understanding the universe.

SNOLAB is Canada’s leading edge astroparticle physics research facility, located two kilometres underground in the Vale Creighton Mine near Sudbury. Recently the SNO experiment, represented by Dr. McDonald, shared the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics with an international collaboration of researchers for important discoveries in study of neutrino particle physics.

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About the City of Greater Sudbury

Greater Sudbury is geographically the largest city in Ontario and the most populous in northern Ontario with over 160,000 residents. Offering a unique mix of urban amenities and natural surroundings, Greater Sudbury is a recognized international leader in regreening. A centre for mining expertise, research, education, and government services, Greater Sudbury has a flourishing and diversified economy that contributes to the global economy. 

Contact: 

Shannon Dowling, Corporate Communications
City of Greater Sudbury, 705-674-4455 ext. 2539
shannon.dowling@greatersudbury.ca 
www.greatersudbury.ca
www.facebook.com/greatersudbury
@greatersudbury 

About SNO

The SNOLAB facility, an ultra-clean and deeply buried space to limit local radioactivity, is operated by the SNOLAB Institute whose member institutions are Carleton University, Laurentian University, Queen’s University, University of Alberta and Université de Montréal.

Contact: 

Samantha Kuula, Communications 
SNOLAB, 705-692-7000 ext. 2222
Samantha.Kuula@snolab.ca
www.snolab.ca