Derome Award, Prix du Merite

Before the advent of DNA analysis, I would have totally agreed with Derome’s quote. The Derome Award represents the highest recognition in Canadian forensic science, named after a true pioneer.

Wilfred Derome was born in the small village of Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, southeast of Montreal in 1877. He studied at the College of Montreal and obtained his BA in 1898. He received a doctorate in medicine from the University of Laval also in Montreal in 1902. He studied Legal Medicine at the University of Paris between 1908 and 1909 and was appointed Professor of Legal Medicine and Toxicology and head of the Laboratory at Notre Dame in 1910.

He was the director of the first forensic laboratory in North America, the Laboratoire de Recherches Medico-Legales in Montreal, from its founding in 1914 until his early death at the age of 54 years in 1931. The Derome Award was established to honour his legacy.

He published the first Canadian treatise on forensic medicine in 1920 and in 1922 was the first expert in North America to testify on the determination of alcohol in blood in a criminal case. Under his leadership, the Montreal lab gained international recognition such that J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, visited it twice before establishing the FBI lab in 1932.

The Derome Award has been presented to the following distinguished forensic scientists:

• 1991 – Pioneers of Forensic Science (Montreal Lab)
• 1992 – James Alexander Churchman (posthumously)
• 1993 – James (Robbie) Robinson (posthumously)
• 1994 – Blake B. Coldwell (posthumously)
• 1995 – L. Joslyn Rogers (posthumously)
• 1996 – Douglas M. Lucas
• 2001 – Gail Anderson
• 2005 – James G. Wigmore
• 2009 – Francois Julien
• 2023 – Cecelia Hageman

And so it was, on Saturday October 22nd, 2005, at the Fairmount-Pallister Hotel in Calgary, I was presented with the Derome Award (Le Prix Derome) by the President of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, Anne Sprung. The presentation reads in part:

“This award, the most prestigious of our Society, is presented to James Gregory Wigmore in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of forensic science which have earned him the overwhelming acknowledgment and support of his peers in the profession.”

It was a great honour to receive such a prestigious recognition and to join the ranks of those other dedicated forensic scientists who have received the Derome Award. It has been awarded only 10 times over 25 years.

Upon receiving the Derome Award, Wigmore delivered a memorable acceptance speech:

“One of the scary things about getting the Derome Award, besides being the most prestigious award one can receive, is that most of the scientists who have received it are dead. It has been awarded four times posthumously and three times prehumously (so to speak) to Doug Lucas, Gail Anderson, and now yours truly. I’m glad the Awards Committee did not wait until I was posthumous as well.”

He went on to acknowledge Dr. Derome’s pioneering work on blood alcohol analysis, stating that Derome believed it was the “best procedure that Science has ever put in the hands of Justice“. Wigmore also thanked his dedicated colleagues at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto and the H. Ward Smith Library, as well as his wife Penny for her unwavering support.

The Derome Award remains the highest honour bestowed by the Canadian Society of Forensic Science. Recipients have included pioneers in forensic toxicology, DNA analysis, and legal medicine. James Wigmore’s 2005 induction recognized his encyclopedic knowledge of alcohol toxicology, his role in introducing the Intoxilyzer 5000C to Ontario, and his contributions to the Robert F. Borkenstein Course on Alcohol and Highway Safety at Indiana University.

References

• Derome, W., “The Laboratory of Legal Medicine and Technical Police of Montreal”, American Journal of Police Science, 1: 216-222, 1930
• Lucas, D.M., and Charlebois, R.C., “Blood Breath and Urine- Alcohol Analysis in Canada”, CSFS Journal 11: 75-82, 1978
• Lucas, D.M., “North of 49- The Development of Forensic Science in Canada”, Science and Justice, 37: 47-54, 1997