Professor Sham is at the forefront of the interplay of materials functionality and synchrotron spectroscopy. He served as a member of the Board of Canadian Light Source from 2000 to 2006, the Chair of the International X-ray Absorption Society from 2003 to 2006, as well as helped found the Soochow-Western Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research in 2012 and served as its Chair. He is currently the Chair of the Ontario Synchrotron Consortium, working with the Canadian Institute for Synchrotron Radiation towards the next generation of synchrotrons for Canada.