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For close to 50 years, Canada’s most inspiring scholars and thought leaders have been celebrated by the Killam Program. Its distinguished are awarded to leaders in the fields of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering for their sustained research excellence and significant contributions to society. In 2026, two Queen’s researchers have been recognized with this national honour – Katherine McKittrick for the Humanities and Margaret Moore for the Social Sciences. They are now among a total of nine Queen’s researchers who have received this recognition.

The Killam Program was founded on the bequest of Dorothy Killam who had a vision of building Canada’s future through advanced study. In addition to the Prizes, the program supports a number of fellowships, of which several Queen’s researchers have been awarded. The program is administered by the National Research Council of Canada in coordination with the Canada Council for the Arts. The Prizes of $100,000 are awarded annually in the five categories and adjudicated based on a combination of research quality, scholarly impact, and influence on evolving current thinking.

"Earning the Killam Prize in Social Sciences is a significant achievement for Drs. McKittrick and Moore and and also the Faculty of Arts and Science," says Bob Lemieux, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science. "They join an elite group of seven ����ֱ�� researchers that have earned the top research prize in Canada, including Nobel Laureate Arthur McDonald. They have distinguished themselves with sustained research excellence through innovations in the field of Black Studies and academic work focusing on contemporary political philosophy."

Killam Prize in Humanities

Dr. Katherine McKittrick (Gender Studies; Black Studies) is the Canada Research Chair in Black Studies and an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Sciences. She researches in the areas of black studies, anti-colonial studies, and critical-creative methodologies. Her work examines three entwined registers including black methodologies, black and black feminist geographies, and the aesthetic and liberatory traces that emerge alongside bibliographic poetics, theory making, and cymatics.

Dr. McKittrick’s research profile attends to the gendered, racial, and geographic processes that underwrite the plantation, the prison, music and music making, anti-colonial methods, and the unconventional artworlds of black creatives. Recent work on bookmaking has investigated how form, font, margins, binding, paper weight, and texture can remake academic narratives while also centering reading and reading practices as acts of solidarity and co-operation. Her research impact extends also to mentorship, in particular with , a transnational working group of students, faculty, and creatives interested in exploring the connections between cultural production and liberation.

“This is a wonderful surprise and recognition, one that sparks my appreciation for the kind and generous folks who have not only been supportive of this research but have helped shape the work and inspired me day after day," says Dr. McKittrick.

Killam Prize in Social Sciences

Dr. Margaret Moore (Political Studies; Philosophy) is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the former Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity at Queen’s. She pioneered the field of territorial rights which explores how legitimate interests in history and territory can be incorporated within a broader normative theory committed to human rights. Her work has advanced areas of territorial justice and obligations, global distributive justice, just war theory, democratic theory, nationalism, and immigration. In particular, Dr. Moore’s research has advanced under-theorized issues on questions of annexation, disputed islands, rights of return, and rights over resources. Her expertise on claims in the Arctic and Antarctica has helped advance current issues, such as the Research Council of Norway’s project concerned with the status of Antarctica when the Antarctic Treaty expires in 2048.

Dr. Moore’s current research projects expand on her foundational work on territory. She has co-developed a collaborative network of more than 30 Indigenous groups at various stages of land negotiations, and constitutional and international legal scholars on Indigenous land rights. With a SSHRC Insight Grant, she is leading another project on self-determination, assessing the role of referendums in moments of constitutional change and peace negotiations to advise on their function and their design within divided societies from the perspective of democratic theory.

“I am truly delighted – and also deeply humbled – to receive this award," says Dr. Moore. "I am very grateful to the Killam committee for this honour, and to Dorothy Killam for her vision in celebrating research excellence across all branches of academic endeavour, including the social sciences and humanities.”

“It’s exciting to have two of our most compelling thought leaders receive the honour of a Killam Fellowship," says Stephanie Simpson, Office of the Vice-Principal (Culture, Equity, and Inclusion). “Dr. McKittrick’s examination of Black life at the intersections of theory, creativity, and engagement, and Dr. Moore’s nuancing of issues related to territory and rights both contribute fundamentally to our understandings of the role of place in building just relations and communities."

To learn more about this year’s Killam Prizes, visit the .

Note: This story originally appeared in the Queen's Gazette.