Rate My Professor Laurent Drissen

Laurent Drissen is a full professor in the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Optics at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of Université Laval. He specializes in massive stars and astronomical instrumentation. Drissen earned an M.Sc. in Physics from Université de Montréal in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the same institution in 1990. He completed postdoctoral training at the Space Telescope Science Institute (NASA) from 1990 to 1994. He joined Université Laval as a research professional in 1995 and was appointed professor in 2001. Drissen has held the Canada Research Chair in Astrophysics on Massive Stars and Hyperspectral Imaging. His research focuses on the impact of massive stars on their environments, including the terminal phases leading to Wolf-Rayet stars and supernovae, using instruments such as SITELLE at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, which he led in developing. He has received multiple Étoiles de l’enseignement awards from the Faculty of Science and Engineering in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, and 2021, as well as the NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation in 2017 for his collaboration with ABB on SITELLE. Drissen is a member of the Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec and has contributed to observations at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic. He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications on topics including ionized gas in galaxies, supernova remnants, and integral field spectroscopy. Drissen also served as a guest columnist on the radio program Les années-lumière and co-authored the book Chroniques des années-lumière published in 2011.

His work has advanced understanding of stellar evolution and nebular physics through innovative spectroscopic techniques applied to nearby galaxies. Drissen continues to supervise graduate students and lead research projects funded by NSERC and other agencies, maintaining an active role in international astronomical collaborations.