Donna Strickland, UW professor and Nobel Prize winner, appointed to Vatican's scientific academy

Kitchener -

The Vatican has appointed Donna Strickland to its Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Strickland is a professor at the University of Waterloo and co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics for her work on chirped pulse amplification, which is used in high-intensity lasers and specifically, those used in corrective eye surgery.

The Vatican announced Strickland’s new role August 2 on their website.

They say Pope Francis appointed her as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The organization was founded back in 1603 as Linceorum Academia and once included Galileo Galilei as a member.

The Vatican says its mission is to “honour pure science wherever it may be found, ensure its freedom and encourage research for the progress of science.”

No details have been released about what Strickland’s participation will entail at the academy.