André G. Roy
Among Canadian scholars most deserving of a Canadian Association of Geographers Award, but who have never been honoured, the magnitude, diversity, originality and quality of André G. Roy’s work sets him apart.
After completing both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in 1975 and 1977 respectively in geography at the Université de Montréal, André went on to earn a Ph.D. in 1982 from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His thesis, which gave an indication of the originality of his work, examined the application of the principle of optimality to the hydraulic and angular geometry of rivers and bronchial tubes. He has since authored 3 books and 9 book chapters and published over 100 papers in some of the leading peer-reviewed journals. He was invited at numerous occasions by Canadian, American, British universities as well as in Belgium and Mexico to give talks and host seminars. Over 50 students, including 11 at the doctoral level, successfully completed their graduate studies under his supervision, many of them are now enjoying an academic career at Concordia, Université du Québec à Rimouski and York. Combined, he has taught 18 award winning undergraduate and graduate classes recognized for their excellence by the Université de Montréal and the Canadian community of geographers (CAG/ACG).
During his student years, he played an active part in the reforms of the mid-1970s of the Department of Geography at the Université de Montréal, which brought unprecedented change to the way geography was taught in Québec universities by encouraging rigour in the conduct of research and the use of quantitative methods. Since then, his unflagging dedication to geography never wavered. In fact, André has generously accepted to serve for two terms (1994-2000 and 2004-2005) as Director of the Department of Geography of the Université de Montréal. He also served as member and then Chair of NSERC’s Committee on Research Grants (GSC 09 - Environmental Earth Sciences) between 1999 and 2002. He then was appointed by NSERC for a three year term (2003-2006) as Group Chair. He acted as Chair of the Canadian Geomorphology Research Group (2001-2002) and Chair of the Canadian Association of Geographers (2002-2004). He is Editor of the journal Géographie physique et Quaternaire since 1994, and has served as a member of the editorial board for Water Resources Research, Geography Compass and Progress in Physical Geography. He is currently Assistant Dean of Research at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the Université de Montréal. Such dedication to the community and the discipline is rarely found.
Founder and chairholder of the Canada Research Chair in Fluvial Dynamics (NSERC), André’s goal is to advance knowledge on the physical processes that control interactions between water flow, sediment transport and river channel form at varying spatial and temporal scales. This research can be applied to provide both improvements to fish habitat and measures to mitigate impacts of hydrological changes on the Saint Lawrence River. To meet this goal, he has joined the world’s top teams working in this field of research.
On notions of chaos and fractal dimensions, André is inexhaustible and will also share his wealth of knowledge on the notion of turbulent fluxes and on place in geography. His “President’s column” have accustomed CAG members to insightful and uncompromising reflections on contemporary world geography. With this Award for Scholarly Distinction, his peers recognize his long-lasting career in geography and value its significant contributions.
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