Harvey Richer is professor of astronomy at the University of British Columbia. He has published over 140 scientific papers in peer—reviewed journals and is one of the largest Canadian users of the Hubble Space Telescope. Professor Richer was the 2014 recipient of the Carlyle S. Beals Award of the Canadian Astronomical Society given for lifetime achievement. Recently he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the foremost academic society in the country.