Professor emeritus Gordon Drake has been named a fellow of the Canadian Association of Physicists.

National association confers

honour on physics professor emeritus

Devoting his career to advancing physics research has earned professor emeritus Gordon Drake a 2023 Fellowship with the Canadian Association of Physicists.

The fellowship program recognizes members who have made significant contributions to the Canadian physics community, research, in teaching, in the advancement of technology, or in service to the association.

“It all starts with physics,” says Dr. Drake. “From medical applications such as MRIs and PET scans to semi-conductors, lasers, and the internet — people don’t realize it all starts in physics labs and that is the importance of pure research.”

When he retired in 2019, Drake’s career spanned almost five decades at the University of Windsor and the publication of at least 250 papers and journal articles. He continues to make research contributions and is currently applying to renew his Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grant.

The fellowship recognizes Drake’s development of new measurement tools through combined application of both high-precision theory and experiment to atoms.

Drake was awarded the 1979 CAP Herzberg Medal, the 1994 CAP Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Physics, and the 2015 CAP Peter Kirby Medal. He served as president of the association 2000-01. In addition to his research activities, Drake was president of the Windsor University Faculty Association for two terms, physics department head for 15 years, and principal of Canterbury College from 2008 until 2023.