Walter T. Dixon
Dr. Walter Dixon is a Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science (AFNS) in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES) at the University of Alberta where he was on staff since 1993. He served as Associate Chair (Research) for the department from 2006-2008, Chair of the ALES Human Research Ethics Board (2007-2008) and Associate Chair (Graduate Programs) from 2010 – 2012. In September 2012 he was appointed Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) for ALES and, most recently, became Associate Vice President (Research) for the University of Alberta.
He graduated with a BSc. (Hon.) from the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta in 1979. On being awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Post-graduate Studentship he undertook his MPhil and PhD studies at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) where he was awarded the Benn-Levy studentship in Biochemistry. Upon completion of his PhD., he returned to Canada in 1984 to begin an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He moved to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta in 1988 where, in addition to his research, he taught courses in biochemistry and supervised graduate students and research residents in both basic and clinically oriented research projects.
Dr. Dixon was recruited to the Faculty of ALES as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 1993 with a mandate to take a leading role in developing the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Centre in the Agriculture/Forestry Centre on the university campus. This was achieved over a number of years and the Centre (now called the Agricultural Genomics and Proteomics Unit) has undergone a series of massive infrastructure and equipment investments in recent years by both federal and provincial governments as well as university and private sector partners. Dr. Dixon was part of the team driving this major expansion. In addition, he is a key member of the SRDP (Swine Reproduction and Development Program) and this reflects his own research interests in the area of reproductive performance, and the impact of nutrition during gestation on lifetime growth, development and health parameters of the animal (especially muscle growth).
In recent years, Dr. Dixon has served on a number of provincial advisory committees seeking to optimize the organization and delivery of agricultural research in Alberta. He served on the AARI Scientific Review Committee – Livestock Opportunities for the Agricultural Funding Consortium for over five years, served as an industry representative on the Advancing Canadian Agriculture and AgriFood (ACAAF) scientific review committee for three years, and was a member of the provincial Action Team for the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). He has served on the NSERC Scholarships and Fellowships Committee for Life Sciences and Psychology and was the Chair of this committee in 2005. He is an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Animal Science, a scientific reviewer for numerous other journals, and currently sits on the supervisory committee for 15 graduate students at the University of Alberta. Through these involvements, Dr. Dixon maintains his interest and connections to a wide variety of research disciplines from the very basic to the very applied.
In 2024, following his retirement, Dr. Dixon returned to the PIMS Board of Directors after having served for several years prior, during his time as an active professor at the University of Alberta.
