TORONTO, October 16, 2014 – York University welcomes the appointment of Theodore Noseworthy as its new Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Public Good and the renewal of a CRC in Visual-Motor Neuroscience for Douglas Crawford.
As a Tier 1 CRC, Crawford will receive $1.4 million over seven years and Noseworthy, a Tier 2 CRC, will receive $500,000 over 5 years. The CRC is part of a package of CRC appointments announced today at the University of Toronto, by the Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology).
“Our government is committed to science, technology and innovation to improve our quality of life and create new jobs and opportunities for Canadians. Our government’s Canada Research Chairs Program develops, attracts and retains top researcher talent in Canada whose research, in turn, creates long-term social and economic benefits while training the next generation of students and researchers in Canada,” said Holder.
In all, the government announced an investment of $118 million to fund the appointment of 137 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 34 Canadian degree-granting post-secondary institutions.
“The appointment of Professor Theodore Noseworthy as the Canada Research Chair in Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Public Good and the renewal of Professor Douglas Crawford as Canada Research Chair in Visual-Motor Neuroscience recognizes their scholarly excellence and enables them to further develop their exceptional research programs,” said Robert Haché, vice-president research & innovation at York University. “Through the CRC program, York continues to build on its research strengths, highlighted in the University’s Strategic Research Plan, Building on Strength, and enhance opportunities for graduate training.”
Noseworthy, an Associate Professor in the Schulich School of Business, is leading a research program to advance our understanding of how consumers respond to innovation. His goal is to develop theory while informing business and policy makers about the benefits of properly communicated innovation and the potential costs to susceptible consumers and society.
His research project encompasses three branches that collectively examine how marketers can better communicate disruptive innovation, how consumers may be susceptible to certain food innovations and how behaviours alter with monetary innovations. This research project may help combat Canada’s innovation deficit by helping the private sector transfer knowledge into commercialized products and services to grow the economy.
Douglas Crawford, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, is leading a research program that will investigate the neural mechanisms for spatial memory and visual-motor integration, in behaviours that coordinate eye, head and reach movements.
These common behaviours involve many different brain areas, and thus are affected by many different neurological disorders. Unique aspects of the program are its comprehensive combination of theoretical neuroscience, human neuroscience, and three-dimensional recordings of both reach and head-unrestrained gaze movements. The aim of the research program is to better understand the neural mechanisms for natural behaviours that apply widely to daily life and work, and conversely to understand why they often malfunction.
For more information, visit the Canada Research Chairs website.
York University is helping to shape the global thinkers and thinking that will define tomorrow. York’s unwavering commitment to excellence reflects a rich diversity of perspectives and a strong sense of social responsibility that sets us apart. A York U degree empowers graduates to thrive in the world and achieve their life goals through a rigorous academic foundation balanced by real-world experiential education. As a globally recognized research centre, York is fully engaged in the critical discussions that lead to innovative solutions to the most pressing local and global social challenges. York’s 11 faculties and 28 research centres are thinking bigger, broader and more globally, partnering with 288 leading universities worldwide. York's community is strong − 55,000 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, and more than 250,000 alumni.
Media Contacts:
Arielle Zomer, Research Communications, York University, 416 736 2100 x21069 / azomer@yorku.ca
