Marcela Carena, Executive Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, has been named one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanics in Canada by TLN Media Group in partnership with the Hispanic Business Alliance.
The award, announced at a gala on Oct. 23 in Toronto, is part of a national recognition program that celebrates leadership, achievement, and impact within Canada’s Hispanic community. It is Canada’s foremost platform in highlighting Hispanic excellence and influence.
Since its launch in 2007, the awards have honoured over 160 trailblazers who are shaping the country’s future and inspiring the next generation.
This year, the awards recognized Hispanic leaders in Canada in areas ranging from academia, continuing education and non-profit organizations, to sports, music, labour and government relations.
Carena, originally from Argentina, was Head of the Theory Division at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) and a physics professor at the University of Chicago when she was appointed as Perimeter’s executive director in November 2024.
She has many accolades as a scientist and as a leader in strengthening scientific collaborations and opening new opportunities for scientists from diverse backgrounds, including originating a program that has brought students from Latin America to Fermilab to pursue research projects.
In 2022, Carena was honored as a US Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellow for leadership and influential contributions to particle physics and promoting Latin American participation in US hosted experiments. In 2021 she was appointed to the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Argentina, and she is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2017. In 2010, Carena won the Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and was a Simons Distinguished Scholar at the Kavli Institute in Santa Barbara in 2013. Earlier in her career she was a John Stuart Bell Fellow at CERN and was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship of the European Commission to conduct her research at the DESY lab in Hamburg.
Carena said the award from TLN Media Group and Hispanic Business Alliance is a great honor. “It is an enormous privilege to be part of this esteemed group of Hispanic leaders who are making contributions to every realm of human activity in Canada. It highlights the diversity of this country, a place where anyone has the opportunity to make a difference.”
About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
