Jaymie Matthews, member of the Vancouver Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of British Columbia was appointed to the Order of Canada by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on February 20th. The Society congratulates Mr. Matthews, OC on this honour which was effective October 5, 2006.

Mr. Matthews is well-known to members of the Society in particular for his work on the MOST space telescope project which was the subject of the Ruth Northcott Memorial Lecture at the 2005 General Assembly in Kelowna, BC.

When contacted regarding his award, Matthews reacted with typical good humour: "To be honest, I still suspect there was a clerical error at Rideau Hall, but I'm going to accept the results of the typo (even if it is at the expense of some worthy Canadian out there named "Jamie Nathews")."

More seriously, Matthews stated that "This was for me a very unexpected honour and one that truly honours the talents and dedication of the MOST space mission team at UBC and across Canada, as well as all my incredible students and great collaborators and mentors over the years. It shows that Canadian astronomical research has reached well beyond the specialists, and that our efforts to share with the public the genuine excitement of astronomical discovery have extended that reach."

A friend of the Society as well as a member, Mr. Matthews also congratulated the RASC on making his work of publicizing Canadian astronomy easier. "The RASC shares in this honour. The Society and its members have been dedicated ambassadors to other Canadians, helping them recognise (among other things) why they can look up and be proud of Canada's "Humble Space Telescope" hurtling 820 km over their heads."

Matthews will be invited to accept his insignia at a ceremony at Rideau Hall later in 2007. The Society is proud to have one of its own receive such a distinguished award for service to Canada.