Dr Peter Hackett has been appointed president and CEO of the Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AIF), replacing Dr William Bridger, who is retiring. Hackett assumes the post in October, ending a long and illustrious, 32-year career at the National Research Council (NRC). Hackett was most recently the NRC’s VP research and his departure leaves two of the top four executive positions vacant. NRC president Dr Arthur Carty left the organization last April to become the inaugural national science advisor to the prime minister and was replaced on an acting basis by Dr Michael Raymont, NRC’s VP technology and industry support. Hackett is an internationally recognized chemical physicist with 200 scientific papers and seven patents to his credit. While at NRC, he was responsible for several innovative initiatives, including the Artist in Residence Program, a research alliance between the NRC, the Millennium Conference on Creativity in the Arts and Science and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He was also the main driver behind the Edmonton-based National Institute for Nanotechnology, the first NRC institute operated in conjunction with the Univ of Alberta and jointly funded by the province. Hackett holds a BSc in chemistry and PhD in photochemistry from the Univ of Southampton….