Kathryn McWilliams

The livestream link will be found here on the day of the service.

Kathryn McWilliams (PhD, PEng, FRAS), beloved daughter, sister, niece, aunt, cousin, and friend passed away at home on the 2nd of January after a brief journey with cancer. Predeceased by her father, R. Grant McWilliams, she is survived by her mother A. Joyce McWilliams (nee Pretty), brother Ian (Jennifer nee Donnelly) McWilliams, their children Grace and Bennet, and brother Allen (Amanda McConnell) McWilliams and their sons Clark and Myles.

Kathryn studied for her Bachelor of Science and Masters' degree at the University of Saskatchewan, receiving two International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) internships with which she travelled to Imperial College, London.

She worked as a summer student building SuperDARN radar tower arrays in Saskatoon, SK and Sachs Harbour, NWT. Kathryn earned her PhD in Physics at the University of Leicester, UK on a Commonwealth Scholarship and later became the first tenured female faculty member in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at USask.

Literally a 'Rocket Scientist' Kathryn's main area of study was the Earth's magnetosphere-ionosphere system with much focus on space weather and related aurora. Kathryn was the first Canadian to win a Royal Astronomical Society honour, was Director of SuperDARN Canada's National Research Facility, and Chair of the international SuperDARN project (Super Dual Auroral Radar Network). Her innovative Borealis system is being adopted around the world. She worked with the British Antarctic Survey, which operates a SuperDARN facility at the Halley Research station in Antarctica and with the Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group's CUTLASS radars on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Kathryn was especially proud of special programs developed for students like CaNoRock (Canada-Norway Student Sounding Rocket), for which she was dubbed "Rocket Mom."

Her laboratory stretched from our ionosphere to the surface of the sun. Her impact here on Earth was profound, personal, and lives on through her family, friends, colleagues, and former students.

When she wasn't teaching, researching, building radar towers or travelling for other scientific pursuits, Kathryn gardened, crocheted, and spent time at the McWilliams' family farm near Moose Jaw. She liked sprucing-up old things, collecting recipes, and sharing what she made. Babies fell asleep in her arms. People were safe with Kathryn.

A celebration of Kathryn's life will be held Saturday 8 February, 2025 at 1400 CST at Saskatoon Funeral Home in Saskatoon, SK. The Service will be livestreamed.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to a program that promotes the advancement of women in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). Friends and colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan have established the Kathryn McWilliams Memorial Fund. This fund, established in memory of Kathryn, will be used to support women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs in the College of Arts and Science at USask. Donations can be made at donate.usask.ca via this link: https://donate.usask.ca/online/artsandscience.php?fund_code=100248KATHMCWSUS

Photo Credit: Chris Putnam