A professor at the 91¾«Ę·ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹Ļ Faculty of Medicine who is among the globeās most respected forensic pathologists has received a royal honour for his many and ongoing professional contributions.
At a recent ceremony at Windsor Castle, a 1,000-room marvel outside London that is the longest-inhabited castle in the world, Dr. Christopher Milroy was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE).
The ā the equivalent of the Order of Canada. Dr. Milroy says he was āgenuinely surprised and shockedā when the British High Commissioner in Canada notified him about .
Earlier this month, he and his wife, Dr. Jacqueline Parai, a fellow forensic pathologist and an associate professor at the 91¾«Ę·ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹Ļ Faculty of Medicine, traveled to England for the April 9 investiture ceremony at Windsor Castleās grand reception room. It did not disappoint.
āThe walls were lined with magnificent paintings of monarchs, generals, admirals and even a pope! We waited to be escorted to the room where Princess Anne was giving out the medals. You are inevitably a little nervous. The room is magnificent and lined with gold. You are escorted everywhere by military officials in full dress uniforms,ā he says.
When his name was called, Dr. Milroy presented himself to Princess Anne, officially known as āThe Princess Royal,ā who pinned the OBE medal on his lapel and chatted with him about his career for a couple of minutes.
Besides bragging rights, receiving an OBE comes with a few little-known perks. For instance, holders of the coveted royal honour are entitled to get married in a special chapel in Londonās ornately domed St. Paulās Cathedral ā and their children can, too.
āI have three sons so maybe one will get married there,ā he says.
To say the least, Dr. Milroyās distinguished and award-winning career has been busy, varied and rewarding. Hereās some highlights:
Heās one of the worldās 30 most cited authors in forensic and legal medicine ā and the most cited in Canada.
- Heās Ottawaās former chief pathologist and heās been a Full Professor at the 91¾«Ę·ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹Ļ Faculty of Medicine since coming to Canada in 2008, relocating from his native England.
- In the 1990s, he worked on war crimes cases in the former Yugoslavia and traveled to the Kurdish region of Turkey to conduct postmortem examinations and investigate use of chemical weapons.
- Heās given evidence in hundreds of murder trials across the world, from England and Canada to Jamaica and South Africa. Heās also participated in inquests that took place in Australia and Ireland.
- In 2007 and 2008, he was an expert for the Ontario government inquiry commonly referred to as āThe Goudge Inquiryā into flaws in the provinceās system of investigating child deaths.
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