Remembering Dr. Fraser Mustard

A true renaissance man, Dr. Fraser Mustard will be remembered for his remarkable contributions to Canada as an innovator, a researcher, an advocate and a leader. He passed away on November 16, 2011 at the age of 84.

Dr. Mustard is perhaps best known for his work on the importance of early childhood education and development. In both theory and practice, Dr. Mustard made the case for investing heavily in the intellectual, physiological and social wellbeing of children.

With a strong background in biological sciences, Dr. Mustard conducted groundbreaking research in his early career on the function of platelets with regard to cardiovascular health. To hear him explain his work with platelets and aspirin, watch this three-minute excerpt of an interview he did with Professor Michael Bliss, courtesy of the Friends of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

In 1966, John R. Evans (Chair Emeritus of MaRS Discovery District) appointed Dr. Mustard as Chair of Pathology in the brand new McMaster School of Medicine, where Dr. Mustard made significant contributions to the emerging and revolutionary “problem-based” model of medical education.

Dr. Mustard will also be remembered as the founding President of the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research, which he began in 1982 to support and facilitate a wide range of interdisciplinary research initiatives.

When asked for one defining quality that might be used to describe his long-time friend, John Evans replied simply, “remarkable curiosity.”

Click here to watch a video interview with Dr. Mustard.