Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Lillian Eva Dyck
"Figuring out what the results of our experiments mean and deciding what the next experiment should be."
Lillian Dyck is a Neurochemist - one of the few women in Canada, and the only Aboriginal person, to work in the field. She currently teaches in the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan. Neurochemistry is a branch of medicine, which looks at how the body's nervous system's (particularly the brain) chemical composition and function impacts mental, emotional and behavioural well - being.
In high school, Lillian would have never dreamt that she would become a professor and researcher, she thought she would probably be a housewife or a lab technician. But, she always liked science, especially chemistry and biology, and had a high school chemistry teacher, Mr. John Dryer, who encouraged both Lillian and her brother to excel in school and pursue a university education. With hard work and a lot of determination, she obtained her bachelor's degree in 1966 and a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1981. While she recognizes that university is very "challenging intellectually" she firmly believes "a post-secondary education is the key to a better life."
As a researcher, Lillian's most significant project so far has been a study of alcohol metabolising enzymes in Cree Indians and others. She felt "compelled to undertake [this research] in order to dispel some of the myths surrounding Indians and alcoholism." In all of her work, Lillian is committed to "helping to improve the lives of those with mental illnesses by figuring out how the brain works or how psychotherapeutic drugs work." In this sense, she feels that her research will contribute to the healing of First Nations communities.
Lillian's contributions to neurochemistry and Aboriginal communities were recognized in 1999 when she received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Science and Technology. These awards are presented each year to celebrate outstanding career achievements by Aboriginal people of First Nations, Métis and Inuit ancestry in a wide range of fields.
Lillian hopes her own example will encourage young Aboriginal people to go to university. "In order to be self-sufficient as Aboriginal people, we must have our own engineers and scientists. Our Elders tell us that education is our buffalo. Just as our ancestors needed buffalo to survive, we now need education not only to survive but to excel."