Pavlos Kanaroglou, his McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics and Research Contributions to the City of Hamilton (2007–2016)

Abstract

At an age when others might have considered slowing down, Pavlos Kanaroglou was just getting started. Neither his age nor the knowledge that he had chronic leukemia were going to stand in his way. Pavlos had accomplished a lot in his years as an academic (he held, for example, a prestigious Tier 1 Canada Research Chair for two consecutive 7 year terms up to 2015) but he felt the need to do something new and ambitious that would be of additional service to society. Pavlos was integral to the process that led to the formation, in October 2007, of the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL) and he was the natural choice to take on the role of the Institute’s founding director. MITL was launched in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada which had been Pavlos’ home from the mid-1970s. During Pavlos’ tenure, the Institute completed a substantial body of work, associated with approximately $3.5M in funding. Much of the research that was undertaken intertwined with aspects of Pavlos’ expertise and was quite applicable for his adopted hometown. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a retrospective look at the insights that emerged for Hamilton as MITL grew and as Pavlos did all he could for the benefit of both, and for the development of his students and team members.