By Meredith Dault, Senior Communications Officer

Both Queen’s most recent and most established members of the Royal Society of Canada gathered at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre yesterday for a reception to acknowledge and celebrate their accomplishments.

Graham Bell, President of the Royal Society of Canada, was on-hand to mark the occasion. He expressed the organization’s gratitude for both Queen’s continued support and its community of fellows.

“Over the course of the past few decades, Queen’s has been as engaged in the Royal Society of Canada - institutionally and in terms of its community of fellows - as any university in Canada. And this commitment continues,” Dr. Bell told the audience. “We sincerely appreciate the Queen’s community for its devotion and engagement in the work of the society.”

After congratulating the university’s most recent inductees, Principal Daniel Woolf reminded the audience that Queen’s will be hosting the Royal Society of Canada’s annual general meeting in 2016, the same year the university mark its 175th anniversary.

The Royal Society of Canada was established under an Act of Parliament in 1882 as Canada’s national academy. The organization helps promote Canadian research and scholarly accomplishment, and advises governments, non-governmental organizations and Canadians on matters of public interest. Fellows are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to the natural and social sciences, in the arts, and in the humanities.

2013 saw a record number of Queen’s professors elected to the Royal Society of Canada, more than in any other single year.