Lankan born Dr. B. Mario Pinto appointed President Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

Monday, 7 July 2014 00:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

James Moore, Minister of Industry, and Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), announced the appointment of Dr. B. Mario Pinto as President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), effective fall 2014. Dr. Pinto is completing his second term as Vice-President, Research at Simon Fraser University, where he is a professor of chemistry and also served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 1999 until 2004. He completed his post-doctoral work at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France and the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa before joining Simon Fraser University in 1983.

A past student of St. Joseph’s College, Dr. Pinto emigrated to Canada when he was just 13 years old. His paternal great grandfather, J.B. Pinto hailed from Goa and set up the first ever apothecary shop on Chatham Street, and his grandfather C.F.X. Pinto did the same, while teaching medical students pharmaceuticals at the university, among them former Minister of Science Dr. Tissa Vitarana. Dr. Pinto’s father Frank worked for the Government Analysts Department, and was also an avid cricketer. Dr. Pinto also hails from a long line of playwrights, actors, editors, poets, and musicians on his maternal side. His uncle, James Tambimuttu was founder and editor of Poetry London, Poetry Londona, Poetry London/Apple. His uncle Augustine was a teacher and actor, while another uncle, Paulinus was fascinated with tracing the roots of Europeans to the Dravidians. His mother Josephine was a singer while his cousin Christine Fernando was a singer and actor and performed the lead in My Fair Lady. The Tambimuttus and Pintos and friends put on shows in the 1940s as the troupe, The Aeolians. Dr. Pinto too won a silver medal in elocution while at St. Joseph’s College, showing that the artistic streak still runs in the family. “In my own career I have maintained the ethos of both the arts and sciences and, as Vice-President Research at Simon Fraser University, I have promoted scholarship in all areas, from the humanities and performing arts to the natural and applied sciences,” Dr. Pinto said commenting on his commitment to the arts.

Dr. Pinto, one of Canada’s leading chemical biologists, continues to make fundamental contributions to knowledge and methodology that are advancing drug and vaccine design both nationally and internationally. He has received the Horace S. Isbell Award of the American Chemical Society in 1992, the Merck Frosst Award of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) in 1993, the Bernard Belleau Award of the CSC in 2002, the Frontiers in Research Award of the British Columbia Innovation Council in 2005, the R.U. Lemieux Award of the CSC in 2012, the Alfred Bader Award of the CSC in 2013 and the Montréal Medal of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 2014. “I would like to welcome Dr. Pinto in his new role as President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. His strong background in chemical biology and organic chemistry, coupled with his efforts to promote investment in building the innovation ecosystem, will be of great value to the work of the Council,” said James Moore, Minister of Industry. NSERC is the primary funding agency supporting Canada’s science and engineering research community. The agency supports almost 30,000 post-secondary students and post-doctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding approximately 12,000 professors every year and fosters innovation by working with over 2,800 Canadian companies, participating and investing in post-secondary research projects.