Member of the Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, and a first generation Chinese Canadian, The Honourable Dr. Lillian Eva Quan Dyck is well-known for advocating for equity in the education and employment of women, Chinese Canadians and Aboriginals.  She is the first female First Nations senator and first Canadian born Chinese senator.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Master of Science Degrees in Biochemistry in 1968 and 1970, respectively and obtained a Ph.D. in Biological Psychiatry in 1981, all from the University of Saskatchewan. She was conferred a Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa by Cape Breton University in 2007.

She has been recognized in a number of ways, such as:  A National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Science & Technology in 1999; A YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Science, Technology & the Environment in 2003; and two eagle feathers in 2005.

Senator Dyck was a Full Professor in the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Associate Dean, College of Graduate Studies & Research at the University of Saskatchewan.
 

In 2005, she was summoned to the senate by the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin.  She is Vice-Chair of the Aboriginal Peoples Committee and a member of the Social Affairs, Science & Technology Committee of the Senate.  Her priority areas are Aboriginals, Chinese Canadians, Women in Science, Engineering & Technology and Post-secondary education.   She continues to speak on these topics and others, such as the Medicine Wheel and Science, across Canada.