Royal Society induction held here

For the first time, the Royal Society of Canada has held a formal induction at Concordia University.

The event, held last night in the Faculty and Staff Lounge of the Henry F. Hall Building, marked the induction of three new fellows, among them Concordia Religion Professor Michel Despland.

The Royal Society of Canada was established in 1882 to encourage learning and research in the arts and science, and represents the elite of the country's academics. Every year, a handful of scholars are asked to become fellows.

Born in Switzerland, Despland earned his doctorate from Harvard University, and first lectured at Sir George Williams University in 1965. He was named a Killam Fellow in 1990. He has written on thinkers as varied as Plato, Kant and Derrida, and is currently working in the field of 19th-century religious studies in France.

At the proceedings on Wednesday night, each new fellow was presented by a distinguished colleague, and invited to give a short address. Despland's fellow honorees were Luc Brisson, a philosopher, and Maryse Lassonde, a child psychologist.

Concordia now has eight faculty members with the right to the initials FRSC after their names: sociologist Hubert Guindon (1978), biologist Rose Sheinin (1981), philosopher Kai Nielsen (1988), computer scientist Ching Y. Suen (1995), psychologist Jane Stewart (1996), psychologist Roy Wise (1997), Despland, and marketing expert Michel Laroche (1998), who has yet to be formally inducted.

- BB