Health Sciences

Pierre Gloor Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Gloor's research helped pioneer new techniques for investigating epilepsy that used bioengineering and other new technologies. His work in the areas of understanding and treating epilepsy earned Gloor a worldwide reputation. He won the American Epilepsy Society's William G. Lennox Award in 1982 for devoting his life to "unravelling the workings of the brain to help those who suffer from epilepsy." In 1994, the American Epilepsy Society presented Gloor with another of its top honours, the Distinguished Investigator Award. Along with his MNI colleague Massimo Avoli, Gloor was asked to submit an article on epilepsy to the authorative Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, both for the encyclopedia's first edition 10 years ago and for a recent second edition. While Gloor is best known for his epilepsy research, his work is significant for neurology scholars working on other subjects as well. Gloor's book The Temporal Lobe and Limbic System provides a detailed anatomy and physiology of an area of the brain that is closely linked to schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, as well as epilepsy.

Martha Piper Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science

Last year, Martha Piper became the first woman president of the University of British Columbia, Canada's third largest university. Prior to her appointment at UBC, she spent 12 years at the University of Alberta. Piper was named dean of that school's faculty of rehabilitation medicine in 1985. In 1993, she became the University of Alberta's vice-president (research). Two years later, her portfolio was expanded to include external affairs as well. By all accounts, Piper was a highly successful vice-president. External research funding at the University of Alberta increased by 25% under her direction and she was also partly responsible for the university's fundraising activities and publicity efforts. Shirley Chan, a member of the UBC selection committee that picked Piper for the president's job, told the McGill News that Piper "helped take the University of Alberta through some difficult times of funding reductions. She was able to sustain high morale in spite of that." In 1997, the University of Alberta awarded Piper its Gold Key Award for outstanding contributions to the school's community. Piper also won the Alberta Science and Technology Award for playing a key role in developing the province's research efforts. Piper called McGill her home for a large part of her career, serving as the director of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy from 1979 to 1985. She earned her PhD in epidemiology and health from McGill in 1979. Before becoming a professor, Piper was a teacher, a physical therapist and a child care centre director. Her research interests have included physical therapy for high risk infants and the early motor development of low birthweight babies. She is currently a member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Industry Canada's University Advisory Board and was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien to serve on the Advisory Council on Science and Technology.

John Sandison Emeritus Professor of Anesthesia

Born in Scotland, John Sandison arrived at McGill in 1972 and began work as an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesia and as a senior anesthetist at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Before arriving at McGill, Sandison was a professor of clinical anesthesia at the University of the West Indies. In 1976, he became the program director for McGill anesthesia residents' training. Sandison chaired the Department of Anesthesia from 1977 to 1985. As departmental chair, Sandison played a key role in ensuring that anesthesia played a larger role in McGill's medical curriculum. He has been the acting anesthetist-in-chief of both the Royal Victoria and Montreal Children's hospitals and served as the Children's anesthetist-in-chief from 1986 to 1988. He has served as the president of the Association of Canadian University Departments of Anesthesia. As the chair of the Canadian Anaesthetists' Society International Education Fund from 1993 to 1996, Sandison worked to improve the level of medical care in his field in several Third World countries.

Harry Rosen Emeritus Professor of Dentistry

Harry Rosen completed degrees in both science and dentistry at McGill before joining the Faculty of Dentistry as a demonstrator in 1953. He became an assistant professor in 1959 and a full professor in 1975. Rosen served as the first president of the Canadian Academy of Restorative Dentistry and has been named a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists and the Academy of Dentistry International. At McGill, Rosen developed Canada's first graduate program in prosthodontics in 1975, and he directs the restorative and prosthodontic components of the Montreal General Hospital's multidisciplinary residency program in dentistry. Rosen has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Dental Association, the Award of Excellence from the American Academy of Operative Dentistry and McGill's W.W. Wood Award for outstanding teaching in the Faculty of Dentistry. Many of Rosen's former students are now teachers themselves at McGill or other dentistry schools. The author of almost 30 published research papers, Rosen also helped produce several instructional videotapes and audiotapes.

Sol Silverman, Jr. Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science

A professor of oral medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, Dr. Sol Silverman, Jr. is an internationally respected expert on oral cancer and other serious diseases of the mouth. The former president of the American Academy of Oral Medicine, Silverman has published more than 200 research articles, as well as textbooks and numerous monographs. A prize-winning teacher, Silverman was awarded the Thomas P. Hinman medallion in 1986 for the leadership role he has played in dental scholarship. He has served as a reviewer or editor for many of the world's leading cancer or oral medicine journals and is a member of many distinguished committees and panels, including the American Association of Cancer Educators and the World Congress of Oral Medicine.

Sean Moore Emeritus Professor of Pathology

A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sean Moore first arrived at McGill in 1951 to begin a rotating internship in surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He interned in pathology a year later and in 1953 became an assistant prosector in the autopsy service of McGill's pathology institute. After doing a residency in pathology at the Montreal General and St. Mary's hospitals, Moore was put in charge of the pathology institute's autopsy service. He joined McGill's Department of Pathology as a demonstrator in 1957. In 1964, he became an assistant professor and then an associate professor in 1969. That same year, he was named the Jewish General Hospital's pathologist-in-chief. He left McGill for a time, to go to McMaster University, where he chaired the department of pathology and served as director of laboratories for the McMaster University Medical Centre. In 1984, he returned to McGill to chair the University's pathology department and to be the Royal Victoria Hospital's pathologist-in-chief. He held both positions for more than 10 years. Moore is the managing editor of Experimental and Molecular Pathology and has served on review panels for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institutes of Health. He was also a member of Ontario's Provincial Laboratory Advisory Committee. Moore has 125 published scholarly papers to his credit on subjects ranging from training programs in his field to coronary heart disease to atherosclerosis.

Kenneth Bentley Emeritus Professor of Dentistry

Kenneth Bentley earned McGill degrees in arts, dentistry and medicine before beginning a rotating internship at the Montreal General Hospital in 1962. Two years later, he moved on to Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he became chief resident in oral surgery. He returned to McGill in 1966 as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Dentistry. Bentley served as the faculty's director of oral and maxillofacial surgery (1967), director of the division of surgery and oral medicine (1968 to 1978), director of the graduate program for oral surgery (a position he has held since 1971) and dean of dentistry (1977 to 1987). Bentley has earned certificates of merit from the Canadian Dental Association and the National Dental Examining Board of Canada. A Fellow of both the International College of Dentists and the American College of Dentists, Bentley was awarded New York University's Arnold K. Maislen Award in 1984 for making major contributions to oral surgery. The dental surgeon-in-chief of the Montreal General Hospital since 1970, Bentley has been the president of the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry and has chaired several programs and committees for the Canadian Dental Association, the Canadian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the International Association for the Study of Pain and the national Dental Examining Board. He has published close to 40 scholarly articles.