McGill professor joins leadership of national synchrotron research facility

Mark Sutton, Ernest Rutherford Professor of Physics, named Vice-Chair of Canadian Light Source

Two of Canada’s leading innovators in physics have been elected to the leadership of Canadian Light Source Inc. (CLSI), Canada’s national synchrotron research facility. Rafik Loutfy, Director of McMaster University’s Xerox Centre for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation, assumed his duties as Chair of CLSI’s board on June 24, 2008, while Mark Sutton, Ernest Rutherford Professor of Physics at McGill University, was elected Vice Chair.

Loutfy, who has served as Vice Chair since February 2007, succeeds former national science adviser Arthur Carty as Chair.

“I am very honoured to accept this leadership role for Canada’s synchrotron,” says Loutfy. “The Canadian Light Source is a key driver in the continued development of science and innovation in this country.”

Loutfy has over 30 years of experience as a research, development, business and strategic leader with the Xerox Corporation, where he served in various management positions, culminating with the post of corporate officer and Vice President of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada. He is the inaugural holder of the Walter G. Booth Chair for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation at McMaster, and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from the University of Toronto. He also holds more than 40 patents and published more than 168 articles. Loutfy joined the CLSI Board of Directors in 2006.

Professor Mark Sutton has over 25 years of experience as a synchrotron researcher, using X-rays to probe changes in the structure of matter over time, at nanometer length scales and with time resolutions of fractions of a second. He has been involved in the design and construction of experimental facilities at synchrotrons in the United States, and has served on the CLSI Board of Directors since 2004. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto.

“The Canadian Light Source is an important tool for the advancement of Science in Canada, and I’m honoured to play a role in helping it achieve its objectives.”

The Canadian Light Source is Canada’s national centre for synchrotron research. Located at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, the CLS is a powerful tool for academic and industrial research in a wide variety of areas including environmental science, natural resources and energy, health and life sciences, and information and communications technology. CLS operations are funded by the Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan.