Alejandro Adem: The Making of the Next NSERC President
The new president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) sat down with PIMS to discuss his life, work, and new role in the government.
By Jimmy Fryers
Alejandro welcomed me into his bright Mitacs office on the UBC campus where he is also a professor of mathematics. The walls were decorated with artifacts collected over many years of travel during a career that currently spans over three decades.
We’d arranged to talk on the back of the recent announcement that he will soon become the new President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.
The Queen of the Sciences
Over the years, Alejandro has successfully held senior positions in key mathematical science organizations, including the Directorship of The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS). This, coupled with a career of academic accomplishments and knowledge of scientific research, made him an ideal candidate for the position that will become his on October 1st, 2019.
When I asked him how he thinks his career to date will benefit him in the role of steering national investment in science and engineering, he reflected on his training as a mathematician:
“I would say mathematics is the most neutral of the sciences because we’re involved in all the different disciplines. Anyone who’s doing science has to use mathematics at one level or another, so as a mathematician I feel very comfortable talking to people from all these different areas.
“As Gauss once said, mathematics is the “queen of the sciences” — the physicists, the chemists, the biologists, the computer scientists are doing wonderful things, and engineers are really designing the whole world at a scale and in a direction which benefits all of humanity.
“What’s most exciting is that Canada has such talented scientists and engineers so it will be an opportunity for me to branch outside of mathematics to learn what folks in different disciplines are doing.” He said enthusiastically.
Scientific Leadership
This learning that Alejandro is modestly referring to will be a two-way street: Alejandro will learn what the brightest scientific minds in Canada are working on, and NSERC will benefit from the extensive leadership experience that he undoubtedly brings.
“I think the most important lesson is getting people to work together; making sure that different people, different groups are doing the best they can with their resources and their abilities,” he said when I asked what was the biggest lesson he’s learned during his time in leadership.
“You’ll discover people are very talented and can deliver a lot but they have to be empowered and we have to facilitate that.
“I’ve been blessed with wonderful colleagues. When I was the Director of the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), the staff were fantastic and there’s a whole network of universities and mathematical scientists across Western Canada. The job was all about catalyzing their imagination and their talent to create an organization that could do really fantastic things,” he added warmly.
Asked what he thought was his main achievement at his current organization, Mitacs, he alluded to a significant list of accomplishments of the wider organizational team:
“We’ve achieved the goal of training 10,000 interns per year — that was a goal that we set out in our strategic plan in 2016. So, Mitacs has grown considerably in my time here. That’s thanks to the team; thanks to the wonderful support we received from the federal and provincial governments, as well as our member universities, and that fact that industry is willing to come and pay their fair share.
“I’m also very pleased with the Canada Science Policy Fellows program that we created, where we embed talented postdocs and faculty in government departments for a year to help with its decision-making work.
“And I’m also very proud of the indigenous engagement initiatives that we’re currently undertaking and the fact that we are working, collaborating and consulting with indigenous communities — it’s important for us to be inclusive, not just in the organization itself, but for the users of our programs.”
The Humanistic Mathematician
The career highlights, founded on mathematical research, are impressive and yet it all could’ve been so much different for Alejandro and the field in which he excelled.
“When I was young, my father (Julian Adem) worked as a research scientist for the Extended Forecast Division of the National Weather Service in Washington D.C.
“He was a very practical science and math guy who created one of the first climate prediction models. Whereas my mother (Martha Díaz de León) was a professor of Spanish literature, and she really taught me, inspired in me, the love of reading, literature, history and culture. So I was equally comfortable with science and mathematics, as I was with history, languages and literature. They were all good for me and to me.
“So in fact, when I was making decisions about what to specialize in I was undecided between the two fields. I think I decided to do math because it’s a subject that when you understand it you really know it.
“I learned many lessons from my mother and the humanities and I find I can apply them when I’m talking to mathematicians about the aesthetics, symmetry and the beauty of mathematics; it’s something very much in me and I attribute that to the humanistic side of the family.”
The Princeton Connection
It wasn’t just Alejandro’s immediate family that was academically gifted. His Uncle was the prominent Mathematician, Jose Adem.
Alejandro recalls fondly the story of how Jose came to study at Princeton and the wider impact that had on Mexican mathematics.
“When my uncle was studying engineering and mathematics in Mexico City there was a visitor from Princeton, a famous mathematician called Solomon Lefschetz, who started going to Mexico City during World War II because he couldn’t go to Europe. He met my uncle and got to know him and he said, “you know, young man, we’re going to send you to Princeton,” and he also sent some other students, too. So this fellow really jump-started a stream of mathematics in Mexico just from getting to know and see the talent that young people had there.
“For me, it’s an example of a non-bureaucratic, almost magical way of connecting cutting edge research with the talent that was emerging in a developing country: that if you work hard and study enough, you can aspire to work with the best in the world in the most interesting mathematics.
“This was a very inspirational story, not just for me but many people in the mathematics community in Mexico, and that fact that my family was connected to that is very special to me.”
The Young Alejandro
It’s not only poetic fate that led Alejandro, like his uncle, to complete his Ph.D. in Mathematics at Princeton.
Even at a young age, Alejandro showed signs of the ability that would set him on his way to a career of academic and leadership success that includes teaching at Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of British Columbia.
“I arrived in the US when I was 4 years old. I was enrolled in the local elementary school and couldn’t speak any English. Soon after, my mother was contacted by the teacher who asked her if I had a problem because I didn’t say anything!” He said with a laugh.
“They took me to a speech therapist, who said, don’t worry, what he’s doing is processing both languages, and when he feels comfortable, he’ll suddenly come out and start talking.
“So when I was in second grade I started understanding, and then when I was in third grade I was in the school spelling bee and I won the competition!”
Alejandro is thankful to the teachers he had when he was a young boy transitioning into the US school system and understands the positive difference that good educators can make.
“Going to a public elementary school in Washington DC was a very good experience for me to learn early on what the system is like in the USA. If you remember your teachers fondly and learn from them it’s really something that you can take with you for the rest of your life.
“I really appreciated having those teachers when I was very young, helping me to learn the language, but also treating me like one of the regular students,” he reminisced fondly.
The move to the US and the experience of living and learning about a new place was the first of many for Alejandro.
The Traveling Mathematician
If travelling broadens the mind then Alejandro must have one of the widest there is. Throughout his younger years, he moved around with his family as his father’s roles changed. Then as a researcher and, subsequently, a global advocate for Canadian research and researchers, he has travelled extensively.
“I’m always very excited to go to new places. “I’ve spent lots of time in Europe, Asia, and South America. Every time I get on a plane, I’m always really excited to arrive there,” he said happily.
It’s obvious this wanderlust is a product of his adventurous upbringing provided by his hardworking parents who took him with them on overseas adventures at every opportunity:
“I must say that I was very fortunate that my parents took me on trips when I was young, so I got the bug. I went on my first trip when I was 1 month old — my parents took me to Germany because my father was on sabbatical in Hamburg as a professor.”
As is typical for someone who is well-travelled, the draw of seeing and experiencing new places is powerful, as is the ability to gain new perspectives and fresh insights. Alejandro quickly recalls the places he’s enjoyed visiting, often numerous times, but he clearly has a to desire to learn from each one of these journeys:
“I quite enjoy visiting France and Spain, I’ve been there a few times — there are historical sites and a rich culture that’s just amazing. Germany has a wonderful culture and also an efficiency that I find very appealing.
“I lived in Denmark for a while and I find it’s a society that works extremely well.
“India fascinates me; I understand I know very little — I’ve been to a couple of places, Dehli, Bangalore, and I just so excited about learning more about that, but it’s more daunting to me.
“I’ve been to many different parts of China and I have so much fascination for the depth of culture.
“There are so many parts of Mexico I haven’t visited so I feel that I haven’t been all over the country where I was born, so I should. So when I go back I always learn a lot.
“The main thing is anywhere you go learn something from the people there; learn something special about a certain location, a certain view, and bring it with you. Every trip I’ve made has had an interesting and enjoyable aspect to it.”
It’s obvious from talking to Alejandro that he is comfortable in the company of others and enjoys building new relationships, opportunities for which are well facilitated by regular travel, especially, it seems, within the mathematics community:
“One thing about mathematics is that it’s like a club — anywhere you go you know people. You contact the local math department and they say come around for a coffee — anywhere in the world we go we can do that. It’s a universal language, a universal club — we’re all very sociable and we like to talk and talk about our mathematics. I never feel like I’m alone anywhere in the world.
“I got to meet the folks at the University of New Dehli. I happened to be going there for a Mitacs trip and I was contacted by them and got to give a lecture. I met this whole community of people working in an area not far from mine that I really didn’t know anything about.
“I even met a student there that told me she had my paper on her cellphone — I thought that was kind of nice and it just shows you how knowledge spreads all over the place.
The Next Challenge
This dissemination of knowledge led us to discuss some of the things he hopes to achieve during his five-year tenure at NSERC. It’s a difficult question considering he won’t take over the reins until October 1st, 2019; however, Alejandro already had some well-defined objectives:
“NSERC is the primary funder of scientific and engineering researchers in Canada, so first and foremost I will work very hard to make sure that NSERC can provide that stable funding for the next generation of scientists and engineers in Canada.
“It’s also very important that we find mechanisms to diversify the streams of talent going into the STEM fields, in particular, women in science and women in engineering is a focus of relevance — it’s very important to increase those numbers. The idea is to create a pipeline that represents what the population is. It’s very important that Canada benefits from all the talent.
“We would also like to see more participation by underrepresented groups, such as the indigenous community — to have them engaged with scientific discovery and innovation. NSERC is also about connecting science to industry and innovation and it’s very important that Canada develop and invest in doing that for the economy and wellbeing.
“That’s what science and technology are about and you can’t do that without discovery — you have to allow for unimpeded discovery and bring that all the way across to applied research, innovation and further downstream to technical specialization, which has an impact on the economy.”
Vision for Canadian Research
There are few people better placed to give an opinion on the vision of research in Canada than Alejandro, and as he transitions into his new role at NSERC, he will be uniquely placed to guide that vision for the benefit of Canada.
“We want research to be driven by excellence but it’s excellence which has to be inclusive. We need to have the full pipeline of all talents that can have an opportunity to excel,” he said passionately.
“I think Canada already has fantastic achievements and historically is one of the strong leaders in science but we have to explain what science and engineering is about to the country, to the community, so we build the level of support that our great researchers deserve and continue on the path of having science, research, technology, innovation benefit the whole country — in the end, it’s about the wellbeing of the population and science and engineering play a crucial role,” Alejandro explained.
At this point I recounted what renowned French mathematician, Étienne Ghys, said in a recent interview with PIMS about the challenge of making math attractive and accessible to the general public:
“To give a talk is easy, to give a good talk is also easy, but to be able to catch the attention of the public, who have no prior connection to mathematics, is much more difficult.”
Alejandro agreed: “We have to inspire young people to get into science, that’s another challenge — to help the teachers and the education system with resources so they can show the beauty and wonder of science so that we can capture and bring in the talent.
“Therefore, the promotion of science is extremely important and a key role that NSERC also plays.”
When I asked Alejandro about what he’s looking forward to about his new position, he, unsurprisingly, mentioned the people — the researchers to whom he can so closely relate:
“What can be better than working with outstanding people and trying to facilitate and find ways to support their work, their research, training; and building up a diverse pipeline of talent that will benefit the whole country.”
Blazing a Trail
If this talented pool of Canadian scientists takes Alejandro’s advice, there will be some exciting research conducted in the coming years:
“When you’re a researcher, I really think you need to have your own program and you have to stick to it. If you’re just on the bandwagon or trying to emulate what someone else did, generally speaking, you’re not going to be all that successful, or you’re going to be really uninterested in what you’re researching.
“So I really think you have to know and have some vision of what you want to accomplish in your research and then be able to stick to it through thick and thin.
“But at the same time, you don’t want to create your own insular world, you have to be aware of what’s going on and where that fits in the larger scheme of things. And that’s the beauty of mathematics: in a matter of hours or minutes, you can come up with questions that no one knows the answer to and no one can stop you from doing that.”
No doubt Alejandro will take this approach towards his new role: bringing his own brand of experience and style, and in close collaboration with his colleagues, work for the good of the organization and the benefit of Canadian scientific research.
