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Dr. Joe Schwarcz
Director, McGill Office for Science and Society
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Brief Biography
Joe Schwarcz (PhD McGill 1973) is one of North America’s
foremost educators and is the Director of McGill University’s
Office for Science and Society which is dedicated to demystifying
science for the public, the media and students. He is also a
professor in the chemistry department and teaches nutrition
and alternative medicine in McGill’s Medical School. He
is well known for his informative and entertaining public lectures
on topics ranging from the chemistry of love to the science
of aging. Professor Schwarcz has received numerous awards for
teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public.
Among these are the Royal Society of Canada’s McNeil Award
and the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack
Award. Previous winners of the Grady-Stack have included famed
science writer Isaac Asimov, New York Times columnist Walter
Sullivan and Don Herbert of TV’s “Mr. Wizard”
fame. Dr. Schwarcz is the only non-American ever to be honored
with this prize.
“Dr. Joe” appears on the Canadian Discovery Channel,
TV Ontario, Global Television, CBC-TV, CTV-TV and various radio
stations. He hosts the "Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal's
CJAD every Sunday from 3-4 PM. He was also the host of “Science
To Go,” a 13 episode show on the Discovery Channel that
focused on common foods. Dr. Schwarcz writes a weekly newspaper
column in the Montreal Gazette entitled “The Right Chemistry”
as well as a monthly column in Canadian Chemical News. He was
the chief consultant on the Reader’s Digest best sellers
“Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal” (2004) and “The
Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs” (1999).
His book “Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs,” published
in 1999 was a Canadian best-seller. “The Genie in the
Bottle,” also a best-seller, was published in May, 2001.
“That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles” was released
in November, 2002 and made the best-seller list in its very
first week. It also received the 2003 Independent Publishers
Award for science books. “Dr. Joe and What You Didn’t
Know” another best-seller, was released in December of
2003. “The Fly in the Ointment” is his newest work,
published in August, 2004.
Dr. Schwarcz was awarded an honorary Doctorate degree from Athabasca
University in the spring of 2002.
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