Seven McGill scholars honoured by the Royal Society of Canada

McGill’s 2026 cohort includes President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini, recognized for his leadership in building stronger and more innovative Canadian universities, and championing their vital role.

Seven members of the McGill community, including President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini, are among this year’s newly elected Fellows and Members of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). Five of the honourees, including Saini, have been elected as Fellows, while two have been named to the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. The appointments were announced on Sept. 9.

The newly elected Fellows represent McGill’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences, Law, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and Arts. They are making significant contributions across a wide range of fields, from genomics and population health to international law, human rights, and medieval literature. Representing the Faculty of Science, McGill’s new College Members are being recognized for research that addresses some of the most pressing challenges facing society, including climate change impacts on coastal communities, and advancing evidence-based approaches to reducing prejudice and discrimination.

Fellows are recognized for distinguished career-long achievements and contributions to their fields, while Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists are emerging leaders whose work has demonstrated exceptional promise and impact at an early stage of their careers.

“The election of seven members of the McGill community to the Royal Society of Canada is a tremendous recognition of their research excellence and the impact of their work in Quebec, across Canada, and internationally,” said Dominique Bérubé, Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “We are proud of their achievements and delighted to see President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini among this distinguished group of scholars and leaders being recognized.”

Saini was named as a Specially Elected Fellow in recognition of his leadership and contributions to higher education. The Specially Elected Fellows are individuals in public life who, while not primarily practising scholars, have made distinguished contributions to promoting the mission of the Royal Society of Canada and have significantly benefited Canadian intellectual, cultural or public life. In its citation, the Royal Society of Canada notes that, “[Deep Saini] has championed the vital role of universities in driving social progress and addressing future challenges, while promoting inclusion and equitable access to university education. Through visionary leadership, he has helped position Canadian universities as global beacons of educational advancement.”

The new cohort will be formally inducted on November 13 in Ottawa during the RSC’s Annual Celebration of Excellence & Engagement.

McGill’s five newly elected Fellows:

• Guillaume Bourque, whose research examines how genetic variation influences biology and disease. He is Professor, Department of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; Director, Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics (C3G); and Investigator, Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Institute of Genomic Medicine.

• Frédéric Mégret, a leading scholar of international law, human rights and legal pluralism. He is Professor and Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law, Faculty of Law.

• Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, whose work examines the contribution of policies to social inequalities in health. She is Professor and Chair, Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy, Faculty of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts; President, Canadian Population Society; Director, Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision making (CAnD3); and Associate Scientific Director, D2R.

• Deep Saini, a distinguished academic leader who has made significant contributions to higher education and is an accomplished researcher in plant biology. He is President and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University and Professor of Plant Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

• Michael Van Dussen, an expert in medieval literature and religious controversy. He is Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts; Associate Member, School of Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts; and Director, Lollard Society.

McGill’s new Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists:

• Natalya Gomez, who studies how ice sheets, sea levels and the solid Earth interact and respond to rising temperatures to provide insights into the evolution and sustainability of coastal communities. She is Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science; Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Geodynamics of Ice sheet – Sea level interactions; and NSERC Arthur B. McDonald Fellow.
• Eric Hehman, who investigates the causes and impacts of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination using behavioural and computational tools to help identify ways to foster more inclusive societies. He is Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science; and Director, Seeing Human Lab.

Read the official Royal Society of Canada press release.