Media Releases

Rotman Professor Wins a 2016 Killam Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.

April 18, 2016

Toron­to, ON – An econ­o­mist at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toronto’s Rot­man School of Man­age­ment is the recip­i­ent of a pres­ti­gious award from the Cana­da Coun­cil for the Arts.

Dan Tre­fler, a pro­fes­sor of busi­ness eco­nom­ics who holds the J. Dou­glas and Ruth Grant Cana­da Research Chair in Com­pet­i­tive­ness and Pros­per­i­ty, will receive a Kil­lam Prize for his excep­tion­al career achieve­ment in the field of social sci­ences.

This awards pro­gram is fund­ed by a pri­vate endow­ment from the Kil­lam Trust, which sup­ports cre­ativ­i­ty and inno­va­tion through research and high­er learn­ing. Four oth­er Cana­di­an pro­fes­sors will receive awards for their works in the fields of human­i­ties, engi­neer­ing, nat­ur­al sci­ences, and health sci­ences. The Kil­lam Prizes were cre­at­ed to hon­our emi­nent Cana­di­an schol­ars and sci­en­tists active­ly engaged in research.

“Pro­fes­sor Tre­fler is an incred­i­bly gift­ed schol­ar whose research on inter­na­tion­al trade, inno­va­tion and com­pet­i­tive­ness is hav­ing far-reach­ing impact. His deep insight and advice to grad­u­ate stu­dents, fel­low researchers, pub­lic pol­i­cy­mak­ers and busi­ness lead­ers has enriched the Rot­man com­mu­ni­ty, Cana­da and the world,” says Tiff Mack­lem, Dean of the Rot­man School.

Prof. Tre­fler is an inter­na­tion­al­ly respect­ed trade econ­o­mist, known for his ground-break­ing con­tri­bu­tions to pub­lic pol­i­cy for­ma­tion in Cana­da. His research has been instru­men­tal in the design and pur­suit of trade agree­ments that pro­mote pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, inno­va­tion and invest­ment while min­i­miz­ing the harm­ful effects on work­ers through unem­ploy­ment and wage effects. He holds a joint appoint­ment with the Depart­ment of Eco­nom­ics at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to. Prof. Tre­fler is also a senior research fel­low at the Cana­di­an Insti­tute for Advanced Research, a research fel­low at the C.D. Howe Insti­tute and an advi­sor to the Insti­tute for Com­pet­i­tive­ness & Pros­per­i­ty. He sits on the board of the Ontario Task Force on Com­pet­i­tive­ness, Pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, and Eco­nom­ic Progress.

Prof. Tre­fler, along with the oth­er win­ners, will be pre­sent­ed with their awards at a cer­e­mo­ny at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 3.

Fur­ther infor­ma­tion on the Kil­lam Prizes is avail­able online.

The Rot­man School of Man­age­ment is locat­ed in the heart of Canada’s com­mer­cial and cul­tur­al cap­i­tal and is part of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, one of the world’s top 20 research uni­ver­si­ties. The Rot­man School fos­ters a new way to think that enables our grad­u­ates to tack­le today’s glob­al busi­ness and soci­etal chal­lenges.  For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

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For more infor­ma­tion:

Ken McGuf­fin
Man­ag­er, Media Rela­tions
Rot­man School of Man­age­ment
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to
Tel: 416–946-3818
mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca

Fol­low Rot­man on Twit­ter @rotmanschool