Raymond Lemieux

Born June 16, 1920; died July 22, 2000

Occupation: Chemist, researcher, university professor

Contribution: Born in Lac La Biche, Lemieux received his B.Sc. from the University of Alberta, a PhD from McGill and postdoctoral from Ohio State. He was a senior researcher at the National Research Council, established the Department of Chemistry at the University of Ottawa, and was president/research director at Raylo Chemicals, pioneering production methods for semisynthetic antibiotics. His work was used to treat diseases such as leukemia and hemophilia. Someone once explained his accomplishment this way: he was the first person to climb the Mount Everest of organic chemistry.

Notable: Lemieux was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society (England), and winner of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science and Wolf Prize in Chemistry.