Toronto, December 29th, 2021: Dr. V. I. (Lucky) Lakshmanan, a founding member of the Canada India Foundation, has been bestowed with the highly prestigious Order of Canada by the Office of the Governor General of Canada "For his philanthropy and for his expertise in hydrometallurgy and business, which have greatly benefited his profession, community and Canada-India relations."
The appointment, at the Officer level, “recognizes achievement and merit of a high degree, especially service to Canada or to humanity at large”. Reacting to the announcement, Dr. Lakshmanan said, “It is a great honour, and I am overwhelmed. I am grateful to the Office of the Governor General of Canada for the appointment as Officer to the Order of Canada and accept the appointment with humility. I express my sincere thanks to Canada India Foundation for nominating me for this appointment. It has been my privilege to have been associated with many Canadians and other global citizens over the past 4 decades in my professional career and community involvement, and I thank all of them for their support. Most of all, I am indebted to my dear wife, Sarada, for her support of me for the past 53 years.”
Dr. V.I. Lakshmanan is an internationally renowned teacher, scientist, and innovator in the area of sustainable development. He has more than 40 years of experience in technology commercialization and skills development initiatives with both private and public sectors including the United Nations. He has successfully guided process technologies from concept through development and demonstration to commercialization for resource, energy and chemical industries.
Born and educated in India, Dr. Lakshmanan moved to Canada in 1974 after serving as Lecturer at the University of Birmingham, UK. His corporate experience includes positions at Noranda, Eldorado Nuclear, ORTECH Corporation and Process Research ORTECH, the last of which he founded and guided to become a global leader in sustainable process technologies through its laboratory and pilot plant.
He is an active mentor of new entrepreneurs. Dr. Lakshmanan is one of the founding members of Canada India Foundation and served as its Chair during 2013-2015. He is also one of the Founders of Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation Canada, an affiliate of the Sringeri Sarada Peetham. He currently serves as Chairman of SVBF Canada. For nearly 50 years, he has been helping and mentoring countless newcomers to Canada to settle, find jobs and become contributing members of the community.
Satish Thakkar, Chair, CIF, expressed his happiness on behalf of the Foundation, when he said, “This is a great honour for one of our most accomplished and respected members. Lucky as friends call him, has been source of inspiration for the young and old in Canada for decades. The Order of Canada is a recognition of his string of achievements, his kind and sharing nature and remarkable commitment to the community.”
Ritesh Malik, National Convener, CIF, added, “This news really fills all of us with pride and happiness. Order of Canada is given to the worthiest citizens among us, and we at CIF know that it could not have gone to worthier candidate than our own Lucky Bhai. Thank you for being such an inspiration for us.”
Order of Canada is the second highest honour given to a citizen after Order of Merit. It was established in 1967 ‘as a fellowship that recognizes the outstanding merit or distinguished service of Canadians who make a major difference to Canada through lifelong contributions in every field of endeavor, as well as the efforts by non-Canadians who have made the world better by their actions’.
