INSPIRE – Hon. Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk (1927 – 2012)

When I was growing up, the media didn’t portray women in science to any great extent.  One notable exception was the Honourable Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk, a physicist and cancer researcher at the University of
Saskatchewan.  She was often in the news as she spoke of various cancer initiatives in her role as the chief medical physicist at the Saskatoon Cancer Clinic. She was my first exposure to a female researcher and scientist, and I was inspired to see her speak, hear what she was doing, and know that people listened to her. 

Her research focused in on radiation and the use of Cobalt-60 in cancer treatments.  This was innovative and formative work that she began in the 1950’s, with the opening of the first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit, and it brought her world-wide recognition as she continued advancing this and other radiation therapies through her career. Her ability and wisdom were a big part of the reason I went into Engineering Physics as my undergraduate discipline. 

During my third year of university, I was honoured to meet her, when she was the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.

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