Margaret-Ann Armour

Margaret-Ann Armour (6 September 1939 – 25 May 2019) was a Scottish-born Canadian chemist based at the University of Alberta. She is best known for her expertise in developing guidelines for hazardous lab waste disposal, and for being a vocal advocate for women in science. Armour founded the Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) program, and served as the first and only Associate Dean of Science for Diversity at the University of Alberta. Among her many honors, she was named a member of the Order of Canada, a 3M Teaching Fellow (1996) and a Canada 150 ambassador (2017).

Early life and education Armour was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 6 September 1939, She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of John Cadogan. Armour supervised undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory courses. WISEST's efforts have been recognized by various awards, including a Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion (1994), the Royal Society of Canada's McNeil Medal, and Alberta Science and Technology Awards Foundation's Excellence in Science and Technology Public Awareness Prize (1996).

Armour served as the assistant chair of the Department of Chemistry (1989–2005) before assuming the role of the University of Alberta's Associate Dean of Science for Diversity in 2005. Armour is the first and only person to serve as the Associate Dean of Science for Diversity in the university. Among her many awards, she has notably been recognized as a 3M Teaching Fellow (1996), one of the 100 Edmontonians of the Century and a Canada 150 ambassador by the Government of Canada in 2017. Armour has previously been recognized in Maclean's Ten Canadians Making a Difference list (2003), in the Who's Who of Canadian Women 1999–2000 book, and twice in Women's Executive Network's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. She has received honorary degrees from multiple universities, including the University of British Columbia, the University of Edinburgh, MacEwan University, and Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. The school has since exceeded capacity. Maclean's Ten Canadians Making a Difference list (2003) MH Wong, MA Armour, R Naidu, M Man. Persistent toxic substances: Sources, fates and effects. 2012. Review. Reviews on Environmental Health. Margaret-Ann Armour. Building on Success: Increasing the Percentage of Women Faculty in the Sciences. Proceedings of the 12th CCWESTT conference. 2008 Madill, Helen M.; Campbell, Rachel G.; Cullen, Dallas M.; Armour, Margaret-Ann; Einsiedel, Albert A.; Ciccocioppo, Anna-Lisa; Sherman, Jody; Stewin, Leonard L.; Varnhagen, Stanley; Montgomerie, T. Craig; Rothwell, Cynthia J.; Coffin, Wendy L.. Developing career commitment in STEM-related fields: myth versus reality. Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Upping the Numbers. Edited by Ronald J. Burke, Mary C. Mattis and Edward Elgar. . Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., Northampton, MA, USA, 2007, p. 210.