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Edgar William Richard (Ned) Steacie became Director of the Division of Chemistry at the National Research Council of Canada in 1939, and its president in 1952. Throughout his career at NRC Steacie sought to strengthen research in Canada, not only at the Council, but at Canadian universities and many government laboratories. One of the ways he managed to do this was through his conception of, and impetus to, a scheme of National Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowships. These fellowships, begun in 1948, lasted until 1975 when they were replaced by a new program of Research Associateships. They brought young scientists from all over the world (including Canada) to Ottawa for a year or two. The wartime destruction of so many research facilities and libraries throughout Europe was certainly an important factor in the program's success.
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