ALUMNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018

BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE IN ITS RESEARCH LABS AND ON ITS CAMPUSES, MCGILL IS BLAZING A TRAIL FOR

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

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3 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK 4 PRINCIPAL’S PERSPECTIVE 5 NEWSBITES 11 DISCOVERY 29 ALUMNI PROFILE 38 ALUMNI PROFILE 40 REVIEWS 42 ALUMNI ACTIVITIES 47 ALUMNI PROFILE 49 ALUMNOTES 60 IN MEMORIAM 64 MCGILL MOMENT

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16 A STEP FORWARD FOR SUSTAINABILITY When it comes to environmental sustainability, the planet could use some multidisciplinary, outside-the-box thinking. Enter the McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative, a new research hub that aims to marshal the expertise of McGill researchers from a wide variety of fi elds. By Patrick McDonagh 22 30 22 FASHIONABLY INCISIVE If the power players in the fashion world want to know what’s going on in their industry, they turn to Imran Amed, BCom’97, and The Business of Fashion. Here is how Amed went from blogging on his couch to attending galas with Selena Gomez and Kate Moss. By Michael Harris

26 THE WOMAN BEHIND THE TOY OF THE YEAR If you have children of a certain age, chances are you 26 shopped frantically for Fingerlings last Christmas. The tiny toys are the brainchild of Sydney Wiseman, BCom’11, and their enormous success has netted her and her company some of the biggest prizes in the toy industry. By Brenda Branswell

30 TANGO MÉDIATIQUE Si les milieux universitaire et de la recherche gagnent à cultiver leurs relations avec les médias, les rapports entre chercheurs et journalistes ne sont jamais simples, surtout à l’ère des vérités parallèles et des nouvelles factices. Par Jean-Benoît Nadeau (B. A. 1992)

M C GILL NEWS / 1 / SUMMER 2018

McG News EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

SUMMER 2018 Volume 99 / No 1

A PLACE WHERE EGAN OWEN EDITOR Daniel McCabe, BA’89 LIVES ARE CHANGED SENIOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER Brenda Branswell y University Advancement colleagues and I recently trooped off CONTRIBUTING EDITOR to McGill’s New Residence Hall for our annual Town Hall event. Daniel Chonchol, BCL’81, LLB’82 A highpoint of the day was a panel discussion involving three young MANAGING DIRECTOR, McGillians, including Moses Gashirabake, BCL/LLB’17. COMMUNICATIONS AND DONOR RELATIONS Moses works at the Montreal offi ce of the international law Derek Cassoff fi rm Fasken. He is also on the board of directors for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. He is clearly an up-and-comer. When he was growing up, EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS M that was no sure thing. Jennifer Testa Natasha Carr-Harris He and his family escaped from the genocidal violence that tore Rwanda apart. He grew up in Kenya as a stateless refugee. He eventually found his way to Montreal, ADVISORY BOARD earned an undergraduate degree at Concordia and was about to begin his law studies Courtney Mullins, BCom’06 (Chair) Annmarie Adams, BA’81 at McGill when he learned his father had died. Christopher Buddle It was a devastating blow and it left Gashirabake in a precarious fi nancial situation. Carole Graveline, BA’75 He wasn’t certain he could aff ord his McGill studies until he was informed that he was Allan Johnson, BA’85 eligible for an Entrance Leadership Award from the University. He says that fi nancial Gabrielle Korn Adam Muscott, BCom’99, MBA’05 assistance – and the McGill education it led to—changed his life. Gashirabake went on Marc Weinstein, BA’85, BCL’91, LLB’91 to become the president of the National Black Law Students’ Association of Canada and to complete an international internship at the Supreme Court of Rwanda. DESIGN Also taking part in that panel discussion was Jenny Aboue Youn El-Soud, a public Steven McClenaghan Graphic Design, Communications relations student in the School of Continuing Studies. Her family was forced to fl ee and External Relations their home in war-torn Syria. She has been helping to raise more than $50,000 to create scholarships and bursaries at McGill for Syrian refugees. MCGILL NEWS 1430 Peel Street Claudia Di Iorio was also on the panel. She survived a car crash years ago (the Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 3T3 driver had had too much to drink) and spent a month in a coma. She had to learn to Tel.: 514-398-5000 walk again. Today, she is a McGill law student and the spokesperson for the Cool Taxi Fax: 514-398-5293 Initiative, which distributes coupons for cash-free cab rides to help other young adults Email: [email protected] Web: mcgillnews.mcgill.ca avoid the wrenching experiences she endured. She also sits on the board of directors Twitter: @McGillNewsMag of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec—the youngest board member in SAAQ history. McGill News is published by McGill University Jenny and Claudia also talked about how McGill has changed their lives. Circulation: 45,000 copies Thumbing through this issue, I come across plenty of examples of other McGillians Printed in Canada ISSN 0709 9223 who could say the same thing. Yetide Badaki, BA’02, for instance, who found a professor at McGill that believed in her talent when her family initially disapproved of her acting Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40613661 aspirations. Now she’s one of the stars of the TV series American Gods. There’s a story about three American musicians who wouldn’t have met had it not Cover illustration: Thinkstock been for their respective decisions to move to Montreal to attend McGill. Now they make up three-quarters of the acclaimed band Ought. There’s a story about three young engineering graduates who turned their prom- ising student project—a uniquely designed electric snowmobile— into a startup with a bright future. Imran Amed, BCom’97, the founder of the hugely infl uential Business of Fashion and the subject of one of our feature stories, credits his time at the University for helping to prepare him for his international career. “No joke,” says Amed, “McGill University completely transformed me.” We get that a lot around here. And we never get tired of hearing it.

Daniel McCabe, BA’89

M C GILL NEWS / 3 / SUMMER 2018 THE PRINCIPAL’S PERSPECTIVE

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E N I T COMMITTING TO S I R H SUSTAINABILITY C

MCGILL HAS WON ACCLAIM AND AWARDS FOR ITS FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY IN RECENT YEARS. IN APRIL, THE UNIVERSITY WAS NAMED ONE OF THE GREENEST EMPLOYERS IN CANADA. LAST YEAR, MCGILL’S SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS FUND, WHICH SUPPORTS A VARIETY OF ON-CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS, RECEIVED A PRIZE FROM THE CITY OF MONTREAL’S CONSEIL RÉGIONAL DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT. PRINCIPAL SUZANNE FORTIER, BSC’72, PHD’76, SPOKE TO THE MCGILL NEWS ABOUT WHY MCGILL IS PAYING SO MUCH ATTENTION TO SUSTAINABILITY.

The Sustainability Projects Fund has supported McGill has supplied substantial seed funding for the more than 170 initiatives at McGill— everything from McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative and some of student-run ecological gardens to water collection the multidisciplinary research projects it hopes to systems to a green pedestrian zone on McTavish generate. Why is the MSSI important? Street. It is a unique partnership between McGill and We have a lot of depth in sustainability research at McGill, its students. What are your thoughts on the role that but what is special at our University is that people in diff er- the fund plays? ent disciplines are working in a highly collaborative mode to It is a great initiative and a wonderful demonstration of our address the issue of sustainability through a system approach. students’ leadership. Making a serious commitment to environ- Environmental sustainability is a complex issue. There is no mental sustainability has to start, I believe, in our own backyard one discipline that provides all the answers, whether looking and on our own campuses. How can we use less energy? How at earth systems, molecule and material systems or urban can we reduce the amount of waste we produce? How can we systems. We need to combine different types of expertise. reduce our use of water? I see the projects contributing to what Because the approach is very new, it does not fi t in the more Professor Elena Bennett of our Faculty of Agricultural and traditional, discipline-based funding programs of granting Environmental Sciences calls Bright Spots. I would like to see agencies. But this research is so important that we decided to us go the next step and analyze which ideas are scalable and kick-start it with a McGill investment. transferable so that the best ideas can be shared and imple- mented broadly. As an institution, McGill is making many commitments to sustainable practices. We are increasingly using In 2017, you brought three McGill professors known food grown locally at Macdonald Campus. We are for their work on sustainability with you to the annual phasing out water bottles on our campuses. meeting of the World Economic Forum. What was Why is it important for McGill to take these actions? behind that decision? We have a very ambitious sustainability action plan for the McGill is a member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) University. For example, we aim to be carbon neutral by 2040. Global University Leaders Forum, which includes 27 of the It is an aggressive plan that also recognizes some of the special world’s top universities. The WEF off ers these universities the hurdles we face at McGill. Many of our buildings are quite old opportunity to take part in IdeasLab sessions at the Forum’s and that poses particular challenges for fi nding a more energy annual meeting in Davos. We decided to address the topic of effi cient way to operate. Since the plan has been implemented, Building a Sustainable Future. It is a global issue and a timely we have been making progress and reducing our energy needs. one and it is a major theme for the Forum. It was also a natural We are all concerned about the ability of our planet to age in a theme for us because McGill has many diverse strengths in this healthy way and we know that we have to do our part. area. Professor Bennett talked about using future visioning to eff ect on-the-ground sustainable change; Professor Andrew Gonzalez focused on the topic of building resilient cities through restoration of fragmented urban ecosystems; and Professor Graham Macdonald showed us how to map the intricacies of evolving food systems to harness the benefi ts of globalization.

M C GILL NEWS / 4 / SUMMER 2018 NEWSBITES KICKING HORSE COFFEE KICKING CREATING CANADA’S BEST WORKPLACE

fter completing her McGill degree, ELANA “It’s a pretty special place,” says Rosenfeld. ROSENFELD, BA’96, (pictured above) settled Last year, Italian coffee giant Lavazza bought an 80 per in scenic eastern British Columbia and faced cent stake in the company, which it valued at $215 million. the challenge of carving out a living in a Rosenfeld remains Kicking Horse Coff ee’s CEO and retains a small town. 20 per cent stake. “The fi rst impetus was, ‘Oh, [I] want to live “[We] saw very early on that there was a real opening for us here,A it’s so beautiful, I love it here,’ but how do you make a mean- in the grocery world because there just wasn’t any good quality ingful living?” says Rosenfeld, over the phone from Invermere, coff ee,” Rosenfeld says. which has just under 3,000 people. “And, of course, we didn’t realize we were starting something, She solved the puzzle, and then some. but we did, with fair trade coff ee and organic coff ee and whole Rosenfeld presides over Kicking Horse Coff ee, the organic bean coff ee. We were following our hearts and really built that fair trade company she built from scratch with former partner whole market in Canada.” Leo Johnson, initially roasting coff ee beans in their garage. The company imports coff ee beans primarily from Central With her entrepreneurial bent, Rosenfeld knew since her days and South America, Indonesia and Africa. as a student that she would eventually go into business. But she “Roasting is really a balance between art and science —it is food never imagined the size and scope of the success that lay ahead. science, it’s chemistry, but then there is also an art to it,” she says. Launched in 1996, Kicking Horse Coff ee now employs about “And our blending style is very unique. So we take a lot of time 130 people and sells its coff ee, with playful names like Smart Ass, and eff ort to roast each bean [grouped together by origin, such as Kick Ass and Half Ass, in Canada and the U.S. Ethiopian] to its specifi c taste profi le and then we blend, whereas The global research fi rm Great Place to Work recently gave traditionally all beans would be kind of roasted the same.” Kicking Horse top spot as the Best Workplace in Canada for Rosenfeld majored in religious studies and did a minor in businesses with between 100 and 1,000 employees. Kicking women’s studies at McGill where she developed an appetite Horse had placed in the top 15 in the three previous years. The for coff ee, hanging out in some of the city’s fabled cafés. rankings are based on staff feedback and on an in-depth review “I think I really gained my appreciation and love of cafés and of an organization’s culture, including such factors as fairness coff ee while at school.” and camaraderie. Rosenfeld, who grew up in downtown Toronto, calls the “I’ve always been a big proponent of having fun and if I’m not purchase by Lavazza a dream come true. having fun, why in the world would I be doing it,” says Rosenfeld. “I have a huge admiration and respect for Lavazza. Certainly Kicking Horse off ers its staff such perks as free weekly lunches, growing up in Toronto, and then [living in] Montreal, Lavazza was extra pay for biking to work, and days off for birthdays. The company always sort of there in the marketplace for coff ee. So to imagine shuts operations down twice a year for fun days for its employees. that I’m partnered with them 20 years later, it’s quite amazing.” Last summer’s event included fl oating down the Columbia River Brenda Branswell on paddleboards, canoes, kayaks and rubber dinghies.

M C GILL NEWS / 5 / SUMMER 2018 NEWSBITES

A MOST MEMORABLE GODDESS Born in Nigeria, the fi rst child of the fi rst son of a tribal chieftain— which literally makes her a princess—YETIDE BADAKI, BA’02, fondly recalls the myths passed down to her by family elders. “I was fascinated at a young age by the stories of the gods, goddesses and incredible beings of my people,” she says. “I come UNIVERSITÉ MONCTON from a large family and just about every weekend, relatives dropped by and we’d go out back, make a fi re and sit around telling CANADA’S stories. Instead of turning on the TV, we told stories.” NEW LANGUAGE Tales of larger-than-life mythical beings continue to play an important role in Badaki’s life. The actress has been drawing WATCHDOG plenty of attention for her work on the TV series American Gods, where she plays the African love god- “I see linguistic duality as being a foundation—it’s dess Bilquis. Entertainment Weekly a foundational piece of Canada,” says RAYMOND describes her as a “bold, poignant” THÉBERGE, PhD’84. As Canada’s commissioner presence on the show. of offi cial languages—he began working in his new “She [deals] with a lot of job in January—Théberge will play a major role in issues people are afraid to talk nurturing that foundational piece. about, like women and their He is the fi rst offi cial languages commissioner sexuality,” says Badaki. from the West. He grew up in Manitoba, in tiny The actress is in Toronto Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes, which was “for all intents this summer, shooting the and purposes” completely French, he says. second season of the Starz “The francophone community in Manitoba is not Network series. American very large. But what was interesting is that within that Gods, based on the novel by community, which is very active and very vibrant, Neil Gaiman, centres on the it made you very resilient. You had to fi nd ways to clash of Old World mythology and basically either get French education, or try to live American pop culture. Badaki was in as many spaces as possible in French.” hired just for the show’s initial run, but It gave him a clear idea of what’s needed for a audience reaction to her character was so great, she was written community to survive and grow, he adds. into the series’ return. “I bring sort of that lens when I look at the When she first began acting at McGill, her family wasn’t communities across the country, whether they’re thrilled. “Getting involved in theatre and Players’ Theatre francophone communities or the anglophone productions was an act of rebellion for me,” says Badaki. She minority in Quebec. What do they need to ensure singles out associate professor of English Myrna Wyatt Selkirk their vitality as communities?” for encouraging her creative passion. “She nurtured the storyteller As commissioner, Théberge oversees the appli- in all of us.” cation of the Offi cial Languages Act and supports Benjamin Gleisser the preservation and development of official language minority communities. Before becoming commissioner, he was the president of the largest French-language university in Canada outside Quebec— the Université de Moncton. “All the leaders in the [Acadian] community over the last 50 years— whether it’s law, politics, business—have all come though the Université de Moncton,” he says. “It shows you the power of education, and the power of institutions in transforming communities.” Brenda Branswell

M C GILL NEWS / 6 / SUMMER 2018 A ONE-OF-A-KIND

SNOWMOBILE TAIGA You know you might be on to something when your student project The Taiga team showed off its snowmobiles to ski resorts and elicits off ers from around the world to buy your product. other interested parties in Canada and the U.S. earlier this year In this case, the “product” was an electric snowmobile, devel- and the response was enthusiastic. oped by three McGill engineering students and their peers for a “It’s like a perfect fi t for them,” Bruneau says of the ski resorts, university competition. citing big cost-savings—the battery-operated snowmobile doesn’t “I guess people were kind of looking [around] for cleaner use fuel—and the environmental angle. “They often receive alternatives to snowmobiles,” says SAM BRUNEAU, BEng’15, complaints about noise and bad odour from all the exhaust that of the queries from ski hill and tour operators in North America, [their snowmobiles] generate.” Europe and Brazil. Soon after launching their company, the trio won a fi rst-place They emailed the student team’s account, asking if they could prize and $15,000 in seed funding at McGill’s Dobson Cup startup buy one. “And we were like ‘no, we’re still students’,” Bruneau laughs. competition. “It would have been really hard to raise money But the interest spurred on Bruneau, GABRIEL BERNATCHEZ, without having won the Dobson Cup,” says Bruneau. BEng’16, and PAUL ACHARD, BEng’14, who ended up launching With more than 1,000 pre-orders, the company is now raising their electric snowmobile startup, TAIGA MOTORS, in late 2015. money for production and aims to start delivering its vehicles Others have converted gas snowmobiles to electric, “but this to customers next winter. is the fi rst specifi cally-built electric snowmobile in the world,” Brenda Branswell Bruneau says.

THEY CAME TO STUDY, THEY STAYED TO ROCK

Many of Montreal’s most acclaimed bands—from Ought’s fi rst album, More Than Any Other Day, Arcade Fire to Half Moon Run to Braids—feature was released in 2014 to immediate accolades. members who originally hail from other cities and, Critics around the globe—from taste-making web site often enough, made the trek to Montreal to pursue a Pitchfork to the venerable Rolling Stone—were lavish university education. in their praise for the album, which featured a driving Once done with their studies, they frequently punk-fl avoured sound that recalled great late-seven- decide to stay, thanks to Montreal’s aff ordable rents, ties/eighties bands like the Violent Femmes, Gang of its cool vibe and its booming indie music scene. Case Four and Talking Heads. in point: OUGHT. “I turned in my fi nal paper the day of our album Ought bassist Ben Stidworthy, BA’14, says Mon- launch,” says Stidworthy. “I got the degree and then treal’s “amazing music scene” played a big role in his two weeks later we were on tour and it’s just been decision to come to McGill. Attending the University, that life ever since.” he thought “[could] be a stepping stone to doing music Ought recently released its third album, Room without freaking out my mom too much.” Inside the World. The band’s knack for hypnotic driv- < The post-punk band is made up of three Ameri- ing beats remains intact, but this is a more melodic, The members of cans (Stidworthy, singer-guitarist TIM DARCY, less jarring record than Ought’s fi rst two releases. Ought (l to r): BA’13, and keyboardist MATT MAY, BA’13) and an Drowned in Sound describes the work as “Ought’s Matt May, Tim Darcy, Ben Stidworthy Australian (drummer and violinist TIM KEEN) most beautiful—yes, beautiful—album to date.” and Tim Keen who met at McGill. Brendan Kelly, BA’85

M C GILL NEWS / 7 / SUMMER 2018 NEWSBITES

GRAVESTONE OR PRECIOUS STONE?

On its website, Eterneva says it “radically redefi nes the way we memorialize.” It’s not hyperbole. The Austin, Texas-based company, co-founded by A BUSINESS TRIP LIKE ADELLE ARCHER, BA’12, (pictured below) fashions diamonds from the cremated ashes of loved ones and beloved pets. It does so by extracting carbon from the NO OTHER ashes, which it uses to grow diamonds in a lab. Archer was recently named to the 2018 “30 Under When ADEN FEUSTEL walked across the stage to accept 30” list by the business magazine Inc. Her com- his undergraduate degree in neuroscience at convocation, pany, she says, off ers a unique approach for paying his brother ARI (BA’17) and his mother INDIRA “INDI” tribute to the one or two remarkable people who had FEUSTEL, née Bhatnagar (BSc’88), were in the audience a massive impact on your life and who shouldn’t be watching proudly. forgotten. “It’s about sharing the stories behind the But Aden’s father wasn’t able to make it to the ceremony. diamond.” He was on a business trip more than 400 kilometers away— Eterneva’s diamonds range from $3,000-$16,000, straight up. with customers spending, on average, $7,000 to NASA astronaut ANDREW “DREW” FEUSTEL is taking $8,000, according to Archer. She estimates the pet part in a six-month mission aboard the International Space portion of their business is about 30 per cent. Station (ISS). Eterneva asks for about half a cup of ashes to make “I am proud of their accomplishments and proud to be a a diamond. (If you don’t have ashes, hair, which also McGill dad and spouse,” says Drew of his family. This is his third contains carbon, will do the trick.) The process takes mission in space and Aden, Ari and Indi were all in Baikonur, about eight months. Kazakhstan in March to watch his launch. White and blue diamonds, the latter to match a “I think half the emotions whenever I watch a launch is loved one’s eyes, are most popular. One customer’s fear,” says Aden. “But it’s also so powerful and so inspiring. It’s father was a soil scientist, so the diamond was green. a strange combination.” Matching the colour to a loved one’s birthstone is also Being an astronaut’s spouse can be challenging, says Indi. a popular choice. “In the past two years, Drew has been away 65 per cent of “It’s really sad to see [someone’s ashes] just kind of the time training in Russia, Japan and Cologne,” she says. stuff ed away in a box in a closet,” says Archer. “So for “Six months won’t be easy. But in the end, you get to see your our customers, it’s just something that’s so beautiful loved one live his motto: ‘The sky is not the limit.’ That’s an and very therapeutic to wear and just feels so much incredible high.” more meaningful. When they look at it, it fi lls them And Drew did manage to attend Aden’s convocation—sort with happiness and not with sadness.” of. The astronaut recorded a message for Aden and the other Brenda Branswell new graduates aboard the ISS, which was played on a video- screen at the ceremony. “My parents are huge inspirations to me,” says Aden. “My

ETERNEVA dad inspires me to reach the highest point I can. My mom is a speech-language pathologist and she’s inspired me to go into medicine.” < Neale McDevitt The Feustels (l to r): Aden, Drew, Ari and Indi

/ 8 / THE ROAD FROM MCGILL TO MARVEL ack in the nineties, when ETHAN SACKS and In 2002, he interviewed Marvel’s now chief creative offi cer MARIKO TAMAKI were both pursuing arts Joe Quesada, and the two eventually became friends. degrees at McGill, neither could have guessed Years later, Sacks was at a Mets game with Quesada and asked that they would one day be putting words into him if he would read a script for a Star Wars comic book idea that the mouths of superheroes. Sacks wrote. “He told me later he was pretty sure it was going Sacks, BA’94, is writing the 12-issue minise- to suck,” Sacks says, but the Marvel CCO ended up loving it. Bries Old Man Hawkeye for Marvel. It’s a prequel to the popular Sacks’ name started circulating among Marvel editors Old Man Logan series set in the wastelands of a dystopian United and in mid-July 2016 he was invited to pitch for the Old Man States. The Avengers archer, one of the few superheroes left alive Hawkeye series. after a devastating attack by an army of supervillains, embarks Now, with fi ve issues out, Marvel is calling Sacks a “rising- on a quest of vengeance in the series. star writer” and Comicsverse.com has called Old Man Hawkeye Tamaki, BA’98, recently completed a run on Marvel’s “one of 2018’s greatest comics.” She-Hulk and has been writing the miniseries Supergirl: Being “The jury’s out if this is going to be a full career for me,” Super for DC. On the horizon is X-23, a new series for Marvel says Sacks. “This could be a mid-life crisis more than a career about the young Wolverine clone Laura Kinney. change.” After graduating from McGill, Sacks returned to his home- A collected edition of Supergirl: Being Super recently became town of New York City, where he got a job as a journalist at the available in bookstores. Paste magazine says Tamaki’s story New York Daily News. “delivers a heartfelt, modern take on [Supergirl’s] early years Despite his life-long love of comics, Sacks says he never saw on Earth that’s heartbreaking and endearing all at once.” writing for the medium as a viable career choice. In her approach to characters like Supergirl, Tamaki mines “Journalism was my passion at McGill,” says Sacks, who what she’s referred to as “the human element of being super- wrote a humour-meets-politics column for The McGill Tribune human.” But she knows there are limits to what she can do with student newspaper. “It never occurred to me that writing a comic these superheroes. book could be an actual job. It was something that Keebler Elves “Writing for Marvel and DC means writing for someone did inside a hollow tree.” else, and writing someone else’s characters. You know, for that Comics didn’t fi gure in Tamaki’s career plans either period of time, you’re responsible for those characters, when she was an undergraduate. which I take very seriously.” “I was mostly focused on graduating,” she says. That sentiment is echoed by Sacks. “These “I had no clue what would be on the other side.” aren’t my characters,” says Sacks. “I’m playing After publishing the novel Cover Me in with them in the sandbox, but at the end of the 2000, she branched out into graphic novels, day I have to put them back in the toy box.” collaborating with her cousin, illustrator Stephen Smith, BA’95 Jillian Tamaki, on Skim (2008) and This One Summer (2014). Both works earned multiple awards for their nuanced, sensitive portrayal of the lives of girls. All that attention attracted the notice of the big-name comics companies. DC reached out to Tamaki with an off er to write the Supergirl series. Marvel’s invitation to take on < She-Hulk soon followed. Art from Old Man (top) As a writer at the Daily News, Sacks, a self-declared nerd, Hawkeye and Supergirl: says he made the most of his position to explore his love of Being Super Star Wars movies and comic books, both of which became part of his regular beat. “That’s where I started to make the contacts and know a lot of people in the business,” he says.

M C GILL NEWS / 9 / SUMMER 2018 DISCOVER THE WORLD Educational travel programs for alumni and friends of McGill

When you travel with our expert tour operators, you can relax and enjoy a truly memorable educational holiday. That’s the McGill advantage.

CHOOSE FROM DOZENS OF EXOTIC LOCATIONS

For booking information and destination brochures, visit: alumni.mcgill.ca/travel The alumni travel program provides funding to McGill for alumni and student initiatives. DISCOVERY

UNLOCKING THE POWER OF OUR IMMUNE

SYSTEMS ALEX TRAN

s a young physician in San Francisco early Research teams will focus on four themes: antimicrobial in his career, DON SHEPPARD was on the resistance, emerging and re-emerging diseases, infections front lines of the HIV crisis and saw fi rst- in vulnerable populations, and diseases of altered immunity. hand the devastating effects the disease Each theme is composed of three priority areas: fundamental would have as it attacked the immune discoveries, new diagnostics, and solutions such as new vaccines systems of its victims, exposing their bodies and immunotherapies. toA opportunistic and fatal infections. “This is a very translational initiative. It starts with the But that same year, he also witnessed how new antiretro- patients and it ends with the patients. That’s our goal,” says viral medications turned what had been a death sentence into MARCEL BEHR, MSc’95, the initiative’s co-director. Behr a chronic but manageable illness. heads the McGill International TB Centre and is the associate “I lived through this unbelievable experience in modern leader of the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health medicine where, over the course of a month, people literally got Program at the RI-MUHC. up from their death beds and walked out of the hospital,” recalls Infectious diseases pose a threat at home and abroad. They Sheppard, a professor of microbiology and immunology, and are a leading cause of mortality worldwide, and also pose a risk director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the McGill to Canadians because of uncontrolled epidemics and rising rates University Health Centre (MUHC). of antibiotic resistance. Now, two decades later, he and his colleagues at McGill, the The World Health Organization predicts that “we won’t be MUHC and the Jewish General Hospital are poised to bring new able to count on antibiotics working reliably by 2030, 2050— scientifi c advances and a growing understanding of the human depending on which particular report you read,” says Sheppard, immune system to the fi ght against a new set of infectious and who notes that Big Pharma has gotten out of antibiotic discovery. immune-related diseases. “We want to build the generation of next antibiotics and they A $15-million gift from the Montreal-based DOGGONE won’t be the traditional ones. These are going to be therapies FOUNDATION will establish the MCGILL INTERDISCI- that manipulate our own bodies into either cohabitating with PLINARY INITIATIVE IN INFECTION AND IMMUNITY. microorganisms or eradicating them from the parts of our body McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and the Research Institute of the where we don’t want them.” McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) are each receiving Advances in understanding the immune system have opened $7.5 million for the project. the door for scientists to develop new ways to reprogram our It will bring together more than 250 investigators from natural defences against infections—and also to fi ght immune- across the University and McGill-affi liated hospitals to develop related diseases. innovative solutions to infectious and immune threats to human The turning point in the HIV crisis offers an invaluable health—and translate those discoveries from the lab to patients lesson, says Sheppard. and hospitals in Canada and around the world. “It was an incredible time, but it also showed me that if we The way Sheppard sees it, the new McGill initiative comes actually apply research with the right social pressures, the right at an “incredibly exciting” time. investment and the right motivation, you can tackle any disease The signifi cant threats posed by drug-resistant microbes and because there was no disease harder, medically speaking and infectious diseases are now very much on the public’s radar. “At scientifi cally, than HIV. There still isn’t.” the same time, there is an explosion of knowledge in the fi eld of Brenda Branswell < how our immune systems fi ght infections that has given us the opportunity to move forward,” he says. Don Sheppard is the director of the new “And fi nally, there’s a fundamental will here at McGill to work McGill Interdisciplinary together to fi nd those solutions,” adds Sheppard, who will head up Initiative in Infection the initiative as its director. “It is the right kind of perfect storm.” and Immunity

M C GILL NEWS / 11 / SUMMER 2018 DISCOVERY

EARLY DETECTION OF A

DEADLY DISEASE MUHC

Endometrial and ovarian cancers are the third The new DNA-based test—called PapSEEK—picks most common cause of cancer deaths in North up these cancers by analyzing cells in Pap samples American women. “Cure rates for ovarian cancer from the uterus and cervix, and by identifying DNA haven’t changed in 30 years,” says LUCY GILBERT, a mutations in 18 genes that often go awry in the cancer professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and oncology. subtype (high-grade serous cancer) that causes most “The main reason is because there are no reliable of the deaths in ovarian and endometrial cancers. screening tests to diagnose the most aggressive “We’re looking for tiny fragments of DNA that are forms of these cancers at a very early stage before the fi rst sign of cancer,” says Gilbert. they cause symptoms,” she adds. Gilbert proposed that the researchers use a Tao Working with colleagues from the McGill University brush to collect samples not just from the cervix, Health Centre and Johns Hopkins University, Gilbert but also from inside the uterus, which is closer to the has developed a promising new method for the early fallopian tubes where most ovarian cancers originate. detection of aggressive endometrial and ovarian “You want to go as close to the fallopian tubes as cancers usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. possible to detect the early cancer cells before they reach the cervix or get into the abdominal cavity and attach onto other organs,” she explains. The initial results are promising. By combining PapSEEK and the Tao brush method, researchers HOW were able to detect 93 per cent of endometrial and BILINGUALISM 45 per cent of ovarian cancers at early stages.

Mark Witten <

BENEFITS Lucy Gilbert is the divisional director of KIDS WITH gynecologic oncology at the McGill University ASD Health Centre Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have Parents of children with ASD often worry that teaching their difficulty shifting from one activity to another, but a McGill kids more than one language will complicate the language diffi - study recently pointed to a surprising new factor that seems culties that many of these children already face. to help these children switch from one task to another more “In children with ASD, there are language delays, but these easily— bilingualism. are not worsened by being bilingual,” says Nadig. “And when you “In our study, we have indications of a bilingual advantage in live in a bilingual society, not being exposed to both languages can cognitive fl exibility, which is especially relevant for autism,” says be detrimental— for example, in employment and educational associate professor of communication sciences and disorders opportunities.” APARNA NADIG, the senior author of the study. Nadig and her team plan to follow up on the study, checking in The research compared how easily 40 children between the with the same children three to fi ve years down the road. ages of six and nine were able to shift tasks in a computer-gener- “We want to see if the observed diff erences [between bilingual ated test. Some of the children had ASD and some didn’t. Some and unilingual children] are maintained, and if bilingual advan- were bilingual and some were unilingual. There were 10 children tages may also be observed in daily life.” in each category. Sylvain Comeau Individuals with ASD tend to have poor cognitive fl exibility, defi ned as the ability to switch one’s approach to solving a problem, or to take a diff erent perspective on a situation.

M C GILL NEWS / 12 / SUMMER 2018 THE PROBLEM WITH AIRBNB Since its debut in 2008, Airbnb has become a multi-billion dollar phenomenon, operating in 65,000 cities. While the short-term rental company is wildly popular with travellers, a McGill research team led by assistant professor of urban planning

N I L , BA’04, is raising questions DAVID WACHSMUTH Y E L T about Airbnb’s impact on the aff ordability of housing R A H in the cities in which it does business. Wachsmuth and his team have released reports about Airbnb in Canada’s three largest metropolitan regions (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver) and New York. They are currently looking at a group of Airbnb’s international markets. THE CASE FOR WORKPLACE WELLNESS PROGRAMS

Workplace wellness programs are still in their infancy in Canada, but a recent McGill study points to evidence that they are a good investment for the companies that off er them to their employees. “Most of the literature about these programs [comes from the U.S.], where the government off ers fi nancial incentives,” says STEVEN GROVER, MDCM’79, a professor of medicine, and epidemiology and biostatistics. “We wanted to know how “We have found that the increase in Airbnb activ- well they work in a country like Canada, where there is already ity has made housing scarcer for residents,” says a national health care system.” Wachsmuth, McGill’s Canada Research Chair in Grover and his research team recently published a study in the Urban Governance. “If a property is being rented Journal of Occupational and Experimental Medicine, examining out for 300 nights per year, that used to be a place the impact of such a wellness program at Merck Canada, a phar- where someone could live. That reduces the amount maceutical company. The researchers monitored the program for of housing available for local residents.” a year and tracked the progress of the Merck staff who took part. The research is also challenging notions about The McGill team found notable improvements in blood pressure the nature of Airbnb hosts. and sleep quality in the participants. Lower levels of stress and “In pretty much every city we’ve looked at, roughly fatigue were also reported. 10 per cent of the Airbnb hosts earned about half of “The people who benefi tted the most [were] the ones who all the revenue. When it comes to home sharing, most participated the most,” says Grover. “That helps confi rm a strong people picture something like this: You’re away for the cause and eff ect.” weekend and you rent a room or home while you are Grover hopes that more Canadian companies will launch away. In fact, that represents a very small percentage wellness programs, noting that the costs per employee aren’t of the activity on the Airbnb platform. The real money high — sometimes as little as $50 per employee per year. is being earned by commercial operators, with some- “Companies are already spending a lot of money on employee thing similar to a hotel.” assistance [programs] and health insurance. Those premiums are Wachsmuth’s team offers recommendations far greater than $50 per employee, and they pay for people once aimed at limiting Airbnb’s impact on affordable they get sick; they do little for prevention. Unless you’re investing housing. One would only allow the residents of a city in a wellness program, you’re not off ering anything to make your to be able to off er Airbnb-type rentals. Another would employees healthier.” place limits on the number of nights per year that Sylvain Comeau a host could rent out a space.

Sylvain Comeau / 13 / BEER, FRIES AND AN EPIC TALE OF WAR

The ancient epic of the siege of Troy, exposing the cruelty of war and gods, is unspooling serially at a Montreal bar. In a feat that is epic in itself, LYNN KOZAK is memorizing,

BERNIE MIREAULT translating, rehearsing and performing nearly hour-long chunks of The Iliad every Monday evening at Bar des Pins. The associate professor of classical studies’ bid to explore how to eff ectively present The Iliad for a contemporary audience should take TWEETING FOR roughly 30 weeks. “Even though it is a little chunk of the story, every week has THE CAUSE its own story to tell,” says Kozak about the project, known as Happy Hour Homer. “I hope anybody who comes, regardless of their familiarity with the story, can have a good time for an hour.” When EMMA VAAST looked at the use of social Each week features a diff erent director, and the staging and media platforms like Twitter following BP’s disas- concepts vary wildly. One week presents Kozak as a kid excitedly trous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, she was telling the tale, waving sparkly props, riding a wooden rocking struck by how the online voices combined to create horse. Another episode has Kozak as a femme fatale under a social movement with a real-life infl uence on a key interrogation. environmental issue. The performances are fi lmed and posted on YouTube. By “This was intriguing because I had thought transcribing and editing the videos, Kozak plans to produce an Twitter was mainly used for gossiping about sports annotated translation—possibly the fi rst ever—that is based on a or entertainment celebrities,” says Vaast, a professor performance rather than for a performance. The classics scholar of information systems at McGill’s Desautels Faculty fi nds most translations of Homer’s work to be out-of-date and of Management. frustratingly inaccessible. Vaast and her collaborators wanted to understand Kozak is updating many of the terms that are used. For instance, how these online voices worked together through “greaves” is hardly a word that modern audiences are familiar social media to tackle environmental problems and with, so Kozak’s Acheans sport “very nice shin guards.” It isn’t achieve a new form of organizing and collective meant to elicit giggles, but to respond to “a real desire for clarity engagement that she calls “connective action.” Their in the narrative.” fi ndings revealed that the eff ective use of social media as a rallying point for social change depended on Maeve Haldane complementary and interdependent interactions between three types of users: advocates, supporters and amplifi ers. “You need all three types of actors,” says Vaast. Advocates create the initial content and supply momentum, ideas and strategies. Supporters add to the content and create depth. Amplifi ers spread the message — and that’s crucial, because it attracts more people to the movement. In their analysis, Vaast and her partners found that the greatest volume of tweets for sustained connective action, such as calls to boycott BP, came from amplifi ers. “Connective action through social media is one of the main ways of spreading social movements and

collective action today,” says Vaast. “It goes beyond EGAN 0WEN

the power of one individual and is something new < that technology allows us to do.” Lynn Kozak performs Mark Witten a scene from The Iliad at a Montreal bar

M C GILL NEWS / 14 / SUMMER 2018 DISCOVERY

LUDMER GIFT TAKES BRAIN RESEARCH TO THE NEXT LEVEL

ssociate professor of neurology and mental health, a James McGill Professor in the Department of neurosurgery JEAN-BAPTISTE POLINE Psychiatry, director of the Sackler Program for Epigenetics & joined McGill’s LUDMER CENTRE FOR Psychobiology, and a senior researcher at the Douglas Mental NEUROINFORMATICS & MENTAL Health University Institute. HEALTH last summer. An expert in neuro- Meaney and his team seek to develop a detailed, multidimen- informatics, he is also a world authority sional picture of what vulnerability to mental illnesses looks onA the practices and policies of open science. like, with an eye toward developing interventions before these “If I share my 50 subjects’ data maybe it’s not a big deal,” disorders take root in adolescence and early adulthood. says Poline, who is based at the Montreal Neurological The other co-director is CELIA GREENWOOD, BSc’85, Institute and Hospital (The Neuro). “But if everyone shares an expert in quantitative-life-sciences statistics and a senior their data, it makes a huge difference in terms of the scientist at the Jewish General Hospital’s Lady Davis pace of science.” Institute. She is also a professor in McGill’s Gerald Thanks to a $10 million gift from the Bronfman Department of Oncology. Ludmer Family Foundation—the Ludmer As part of her research, Greenwood Centre’s founding patrons—a new inter- develops statistical methods and complex national brain consortium at the centre algorithms that enable researchers to inte- will enable researchers to share their grate and manipulate diverse datasets. resources and findings more widely in She is collaborating with a relatively order to speed up advances in research. new hire at the Ludmer Centre, assis- This new investment, which brings tant professor of psychology ROSEMARY O T the foundation’s total support for the O BAGOT, PhD’11, on a project to under- H P K C centre to $18 million, will establish the O stand the mechanisms of susceptibility T S Ludmer Centre Heritage Fund, which will be I to depression, to which Greenwood will used to support the work of emerging young research- contribute her expertise in data analysis. ers at the centre. The gift will also help launch and support Bagot’s team uses calcium imaging to record the brain-cell a Global Brain Consortium of leading brain research insti- activity of mice as they perform behavioural tasks. The tool tutions focused on sharing infrastructure, methodologies that researchers will be using to record the neural activity is and results, ultimately accelerating treatment for patients. the UCLA Miniscope, a miniaturized microscope they are “Researchers have to come up with new ways to conduct building from open-source methodology. science—through data sharing, ‘collaboratories’ and complemen- “There’s a community of people using this technique that tary scientifi c disciplines working together,” says ALAN EVANS, have this mentality of helping each other out,” explains Bagot. a James McGill Professor in Neurology and Neurosurgery at Her research team also gives back to the greater neuro- The Neuro, and one of the Ludmer Centre’s co-directors. science community. For example, the lab uses an imaging Evans himself has played a key role in that regard—as one technique called fi ber photometry to record the activity of brain of the principal architects of the high-resolution Big Brain cells. One of her students wrote code for its analysis, which atlas, for instance, a resource used by neuroscientists around they share with researchers around the world. the world. “We’ve already done the work, so we may as well share it The Ludmer Centre was established in 2013 as a part- with people so that they can use that analysis to further their nership between The Neuro, the Douglas Mental Health own research.” University Institute, and the Jewish General Hospital’s Lady It’s exactly the kind of cooperation the new consortium aims Davis Institute for Medical Research.The centre’s goal is to to facilitate in order to accelerate fi ndings and treatments. improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental “At the Ludmer, we really want to foster un-siloed scientifi c disorders through innovative research. research to make sure we’re part of a larger community,” says Evans leads the centre with two other co-directors. One is Poline. “For that, the Global Brain Consortium is the way to go.” MICHAEL MEANEY, a world authority on epigenetics and Vanessa Bonneau

M C GILL NEWS / 15 / SUMMER 2018 A STEP FORWARD FOR SUSTAINABILITY MCGILL’S SUSTAINABILITY EXPERTS ARE INVOLVED IN EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF EVERYTHING FROM LOCUST SWARMS TO URBAN HEAT ISLANDS TO MOUNTAINS OF TOXIC E-WASTE. THE NEW MCGILL SUSTAINABILITY SYSTEMS INITIATIVE HOPES TO PLAY A CRUCIAL COORDINATING ROLE IN THOSE EFFORTS.

by Patrick McDonagh

t the beginning of 2017, Principal Many of those challenges revolve around the Suzanne Fortier, BSc’72, PhD’76, question of how to forge a sustainable future for flew to Davos to take part in the planet and its occupants. the World Economic Forum’s The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable annual meeting. She didn’t go Development defi nes 17 goals that address social, alone. She brought along some environmental and economic sustainability carefullyA selected McGill colleagues. issues, and each of those goals involves a variety of The Forum’s annual meeting attracts hundreds factors. The abundance of approaches to, and forms of the world’s most infl uential people—heads of of, sustainability issues—social, ecological, infra- state, CEOs, the leaders of major NGOs. You might structural and economic, among others—attests fi nd yourself rubbing shoulders with Bono or Bill to the complexity of the concept itself. Gates. Fortier was there as the only Canadian member of the Global University Leaders Forum, a A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH WEF-affi liated group that includes the presidents And this complexity demands a new kind of of 27 of the world’s top universities. research—the kind facilitated by the McGill She used the opportunity to showcase McGill’s Sustainability Systems Initiative (MSSI), launched growing prominence in the field of environmen- a little over a year ago. tal sustainability, hosting an event that featured “Many McGill research teams are working three of McGill’s rising stars in that area—Andrew directly on sustainability questions, but in separate Gonzalez and Graham MacDonald from the Faculty domains, so the MSSI creates a hub where people of Science, and Elena Bennett from the Faculty of from diff erent disciplines can develop collabora- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. tive projects,” says Heather McShane, PhD’13, the “Representing McGill was a phenomenal expe- MSSI’s program director and catalyst-in-chief. rience,” says MacDonald, BA’06, MSc’08, PhD’13, “We help people to connect with others they an assistant professor of geography. His research wouldn’t normally meet, building a community for explores the social, environmental and economic exchanging ideas and developing new and avant- impact of changing food systems, including agri- garde collaborative projects.” McShane and her cultural production but also food distribution team have organized workshops and symposia to and consumer demand. “I found it fascinating to bring people together. A series of brief “lightning engage in that process with policy makers and talks” by researchers from across McGill about industry leaders. The World Economic Forum their work proved to be popular. Mining and mate- brings together people from diff erent sectors and rials engineering professor George Demopoulos countries to talk about some of the world’s greatest welcomes the opportunity to work more closely challenges.” with colleagues from diff erent disciplines. “The MSSI is having a huge impact.”

M C GILL NEWS / 16 / SUMMER 2018 More than 150 McGill professors have become Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity Science MSSI members and the initiative has attracted and the Liber Ero Chair in Conservation Biology. affiliate members from outside the University. Those benefi ts include improved air quality and McShane and the MSSI team are casting a wide essential recreational space. net—the connections they are building involve A recent initiative in Montreal used Gon- partners from the natural sciences, engineering, zalez’s models to plant trees, shrubs and other public health, the social sciences, law, the human- greenery in order to mitigate pockets of extreme ities and management. The MSSI reports to the heat known as urban heat islands—localized deans of three separate faculties—agricultural areas where temperatures soar to dangerous and environmental sciences, engineering, and levels. Gonzalez is also working with the city of science. Montreal to produce a model of its green spaces, A comprehensive consultation process with taking into account climate change and urban MSSI members led to the identifi cation of three sprawl, for the next 35 to 50 years. “Without a themes with which to start: sustaining landscapes, clear policy in place, green space will be reduced creating sustainable materials, and adapting urban and more fragmented, so we need to plan now to environments. And, because cross-disciplinary diminish the impact of how we use our land and projects are notoriously diffi cult to fund through the ecosystems,” he stresses. traditional granting agencies, McGill has given the Gonzalez is co-leader, with assistant professor MSSI enough money to provide seed funding for of geography Kevin Manaugh, MUP’09, PhD’13, promising initiatives within these themes. and assistant professor of urban planning David Wachsmuth, BA’04, of the MSSI’s Adapting Urban WHY GREEN SPACES MATTER Environments theme. One of its projects involves Happily, McGill can already boast an impressive creating a Montreal Living Lab. “We have new tools body of world-leading sustainability research that allow us to take the pulse of a city from a com- upon which to build. Take, for instance, biology plex living systems or ecological perspective,” says professor Andrew Gonzalez’s project that explores Gonzalez. The project will create a public online urban networks of interlacing green spaces or dashboard that will provide a range of real-time “green corridors,” looking at how they function, information on Montreal’s sustainability factors. what they need to prosper, and what benefi ts they The team is also collaborating with the municipal off er to urbanites. government and other non-academic partners “Many cities around the world are realizing to define these factors—environmental, social, the importance of green spaces, which are critical economic, among others—and determine how they to biodiversity, and the benefi ts, including health can best be measured and managed. > benefi ts, they bring,” says Gonzalez, holder of the

M C GILL NEWS / 17 / SUMMER 2018 Ensuring sustainable urban development is one conditions, becomes gregarious and nomadic. “One thing; managing multifunctional landscapes off ers of the things that infl uences the switch between a a diff erent set of challenges. Associate professor of single little grasshopper and unmanageable swarms natural resource sciences Elena Bennett recently of locusts that destroy crop fi elds and cause famine completed the “Montérégie Connection” project, is the quality of the grassland they inhabit,” says a cross-disciplinary initiative focusing on sustain- Robinson, co-leader, with Bennett and civil engi- ability and multifunctional ecosystem management neering professor Laxmi Sushama, of the MSSI’s in the Montérégie region south of Montreal. Sustaining Landscapes theme. “It can be a challenge to make decisions about In one particularly devastating outbreak, land use while considering multiple issues,” she locusts caused $2.5 billion in crop damage in Africa says. “Say you have to make an agricultural man- between 2000 and 2003. “We’ve found that more agement decision about a piece of land, but that also degraded grasslands push grasshoppers into becom- aff ects hunting and maple syrup production and ing swarming locusts, so if you stop grasslands from recreation. So the project was about encouraging degrading, you help reduce the probability of these and developing decision-making processes that outbreaks,” says Robinson. His research focuses take multiple benefi ts into account.” Bennett and on how rangeland management and policies could her partners, including Gonzalez, worked closely mitigate swarms. China has a top-down approach with the communities lying within the Montéré- with a centralized authority; in Senegal, villages gie region to generate information that would be have much greater control over their local regions; useful for policy development. The eff ort proved and Australia has a strong private property system. successful enough that Bennett has submitted “These diff erent social and property rights sit- a grant proposal to expand the project to seven uations have dramatic implications for managing diff erent landscapes across Canada. degradation, so our comparative work investigates how locust problems can be addressed in these LEERY OF LOCUSTS contexts.” Robinson’s collaborators explore such Environmental management also concerns assis- things as locust biology and nutrition, and in May tant professor of geography Brian Robinson, who he joined them at Arizona State University to help is collaborating with researchers internationally launch the Global Locust Initiative. “I’ve always to identify approaches for reducing locust swarms been interested in trying to understand the big in Australia, Senegal, and China. picture, but I can’t do it by myself,” he says. “If my The locust is a type of grasshopper that is normally work is to aff ect policy makers, I have to integrate solitary and sedentary, but which, under certain it with other disciplines.”

“The few types of pollution we measured lead to over nine million premature deaths globally per year. That’s three times more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.”

CHRISTINNE MUSCHI CHRISTINNE MUSCHI

/ 18 / E-WASTE GRAVEYARDS “At sites like this, impoverished workers go Influencing policy is an important objective of through heaps of discarded computers and related sustainability research. As a member of The Lancet items, and pick these materials apart with their Commission on Pollution and Health, associate fi ngers or use very crude methods like coarse acid professor of natural resource sciences Niladri burning to liberate key elements that can be recy- Basu, PhD’05, co-authored a study that was the cled and sold,” says Basu, whose research has taken first to show pollution’s global health impact. him to Agbogbloshie and similar dumps. These “The few types of pollution we measured lead e-waste “miners” are subject to a range of health to over nine million premature deaths globally risks, breathing carcinogenic fumes and being per year. That’s three times more than AIDS, exposed to highly toxic chemicals. But, Basu notes, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 15 times there can be a solution. “We should be designing our more than all forms of violence and wars,” says electronic products—phones, computers, screens, Basu, who holds the Canada Research Chair in fridges, microwaves, toasters—so they’re designed Environmental Health Sciences. “And pollution for life, and when they do break down they can be disproportionately kills the poor and people in recycled easily.” the developing world, most often through unsafe Basu is a co-leader of the Creating Sustainable air quality and contaminated water and food.” Materials theme, along with Demopoulos, MSc’78, Cleaning up polluting industries and activities PhD’82, and associate professor of chemistry not only improve the health of people and the Audrey Moores; the group has determined to focus environment, he notes—it will also help economies its efforts on the materials used in alternative to thrive. energy production, such as those used in developing Basu’s research includes tracking the health, photovoltaic cells for collecting solar power. “We’re social and economic consequences of mercury looking at these materials across their life cycle, pollution and e-waste. “We are addicted to our from their design and development, their manu- electronic gadgetry, always upgrading to new mod- facture and application, and their eventual disposal els,” he says. But the discarded gadgets become or recovery,” says Basu. “This sector is undergoing waste for export, mainly to Africa, which has explosive growth, so now is the time to ensure that witnessed a huge upsurge in e-waste flowing from the decisions we’re making are responsible ones. North America and Europe. The port at Accra, We don’t want to fi nd out in 10 years that we’ve Ghana, receives container ships filled with junked further contaminated the planet. We want to make computers destined for the Agbogbloshie e-waste products that are ‘benign by design.’” > dump, the world’s largest e-waste graveyard.

ALEX TRAN <

(From left to right) MSSI program director Heather McShane and MSSI theme co-leaders Andrew Gonzales and Elena Bennett

M C GILL NEWS / 19 / SUMMER 2018 “When we develop a new material, we try to solve a problem. We don’t want to create a new problem.”

CHRISTINNE MUSCHI CHRISTINNE MUSCHI

That’s the driving force behind much of the Discussions around the importance of sustainabil- research done by Demopoulos. He and his team ity research often involve dire predictions about the focus on “new energy materials” for both solar power social and environmental dystopia that would result and lithium ion batteries (used in electric cars and from inaction—and that bleak approach can create a mobile phones). “A lot of ‘clean’ technologies have numbing eff ect. Bennett’s team, along with collabo- certain skeletons in their closet,” he says. The cobalt rators from South Africa and Sweden, are adopting a that is widely used for lithium ion batteries is asso- diff erent approach, one that emphasizes hope. ciated with dangerous mining practices and child The Seeds of a Good Anthropocene project has labour. Lead, a highly toxic metal, is often used in collected more than 500 examples of projects that are solar cells. Demopoulos is exploring the use of less transforming some piece of the world for the better. problematic materials. For example, he is examining These “Bright Spots” range from eff orts to protect rare the use of iron lithium silicate, a material composed endemic species in New Zealand to urban farming of abundant and non-toxic ingredients, for lithium initiatives in Japan. ion batteries. “When we develop a new material, we The project is building a database for analyzing try to solve a problem,” says Demopoulos. “We don’t what makes some initiatives successful, while want to create a new problem.” helping researchers to develop better scenarios of Moores, McGill’s Canada Research Chair in alternative futures—not predictions so much as a Green Chemistry, is driven by similar concerns in range of possibilities. her research. “When industry is manufacturing McShane expects that the MSSI will be playing chemicals it uses catalysts to accelerate processes, an important role in exploring some of those pos- or enable them to happen at lower temperatures, sibilities. “We’re creating a hub that will be useful or more selectively, with less waste,” she explains. in our community and globally,” she says. “So when “So catalysts are very important for sustainability, people think about sustainability research, they will because they help reduce the global footprint of a think of McGill.” process.” Many catalytic processes rely on toxic heavy metals, so one line of her research is to reduce Patrick McDonagh is a Montreal-based writer reliance on these metals. Her team is also looking and teacher. His article on McGill’s International for ways to shrink the footprint of catalytic pro- Community Action Network, which appeared in our cesses—by using magnetic metal particles that can summer 2017 edition, received a gold medal from the then be recovered easily to avoid separation steps, Canadian Online Publishing Awards. which cost energy, time, and money. < (From top left to right) MSSI theme co-leaders Niladri Basu, Brian Robinson and Audrey Moores

M C GILL NEWS / 20 / SUMMER 2018 WILL LEW

PRACTICING WHAT WE PREACH

McGill has been making no secret of its commitment to sustain- ability in recent years and those efforts are attracting attention. The University was recently named one of the country’s greenest employ- ers by Mediacorp Canada, while Corporate Knights, the magazine that advocates for “clean capitalism,” ranked McGill as the second greenest university in Canada.

The University and its students collaborate on the SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS FUND, which has supported more than 170 sustainability- themed projects at McGill since 2010. The University has invested millions in energy-saving initiatives (emission levels in 2015 were 12 per cent lower than in 1990) and is phasing out the sale of single-use bottled water in an effort to combat plastic waste.

VISION 2020, the University’s comprehensive sustainability action plan, has an ambitious goal — carbon neutrality by 2040. The MCGILL OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY (MOOS) is leading the effort, but it won’t be easy.

McGill has more than 200 buildings (many of them built before 1940), in a city where July’s mean temperature is 35 degrees Celsius higher than January’s. That places hefty demands on energy consumption.

“Creating a McGill-wide strategy that pushes us towards our collective sustainability goals is a challenge,” says MOOS director François Miller. “So we work with students, faculty and staff across the University to create ambitious and cohesive plans.” For example, the MOOS is collaborating closely with Elena Bennett’s team in identifying McGill’s “Bright Spots”— sustainability initiatives that can serve as inspiration and models for practices across the University and beyond.

M C GILL NEWS / 21 / SUMMER 2018 JOHN PHILLIPS / GETTY IMAGES

M C GILL NEWS / 22 / SUMMER 2018 FASHIONABLY INCISIVE TEN YEARS AGO, NO ONE IN THE WORLD OF FASHION KNEW WHO IMRAN AMED WAS. TODAY, HIS INSIGHTS INTO THE INDUSTRY ARE SO HIGHLY VALUED, HE HAS BECOME THE TREND—SPOTTER THAT TREND—SETTERS RELY ON.

by Michael Harris

rom the sofa in his Notting AN OUTSIDER’S PERSPECTIVE Hill fl at, a young man began The fashion industry had been more or writing a blog. If this were less consistent for decades—the way it the story of another man, or worked could be understood by industry if it took place in any other stalwarts and predictions were reiter- year, the tale would likely ations of what had worked before. But end there—his blog cast onto the world’s after the global fi nancial crisis, after the F iPhone, after Instagram, and myriad ignominious heap of online scribblings. But the man was Imran Amed, other pinpoints of change, somebody BCom’97—who is possessed of a curiously insight- needed to explain the industry to itself. ful mind when it comes to his subject, the world “They were ossifi ed,” says Amed. His job would of fashion. And the year was 2007—when the be to present information and insights that made multi-trillion-dollar fashion industry was turned sense of constantly evolving circumstances. His upside-down. was no adoring photo blog; his articles would ask Amed had no formal training in fashion—aside why Spanish fashion house Balenciaga just hired from a stint working at The Gap. He’d been work- that media president, or whether J Crew could ing the previous four years as a consultant for make a foray into bridal wear, or where Hermes McKinsey & Co, in London. His job there was to should invest its multi-billion-dollar surplus. analyze businesses and industries—as an outsider. Nobody was covering fashion’s inner workings in He would travel the world, parachute into entirely such a serious way when Amed came on the scene. foreign work environments, and be expected to He stepped into that void and delivered the prosa- map out the inner workings. ically titled Business of Fashion. Every three months, Amed was mastering a Today, a mere decade later, BoF has become new context, a new world. That trained him to indispensable. It boasts 1.3 million unique see patterns where others saw only chaos. When visitors every month, 4.5 million followers on he at last turned his eye on the fashion industry, social media, and 400,000 subscribers to its it was with that same, refi ned attitude. “I think I daily newsletter. In a recent GQ article about was asking the right questions,” he says today. Amed’s rise, Calvin Klein Collection president Indeed, during those first years, when Amed Michelle Kessler-Sanders described BoF as wrote his blog in obscurity, radical change in the “an essential and vital resource for our indus- global economy, along with a disruptive new fl eet try and beyond.” According to The Wall Street of social technologies, had upended the world of Journal, BoF “now rivals—and surpasses, some fashion, making Amed’s skill-set deeply valuable. say—107-year-old Women’s Wear Daily as the He could map out and explain a shifting landscape. go-to trade resource” for the fashion industry. >

M C GILL NEWS / 23 / SUMMER 2018 > Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, singer/actress Selena Gomez and Amed CINDY ORD / GETTY IMAGES

Amed was recently appointed by Queen Elizabeth When Amed arrived in Montreal at age 18, as a Member of the Order of the British Empire “the industry itself seemed so inaccessible to me. (MBE) for his services. Fast Company named him But Montreal had a culture of fashion. Everyone one of the most creative people in business and GQ dressed in an expressive way. When I was grow- included him on a list of the 100 most infl uential ing up in Calgary, everyone dressed in standard men in Britain. Not bad for a sofa-ridden blogger. ways—the drama kids, the jocks—but Montreal Naturally, BoF is not just Amed on his sofa any- was about individual expression.” Montreal felt more. Today, he employs a staff of 75, split across wholly cosmopolitan, too; its bilingual residents New York, London, and Shanghai. and the diverse student body at McGill made Amed Amed normally reserves his interviews for the hungry for a truly global life. likes of Vogue but, when invited to sit down with a And that’s what he’s built for himself. Today, writer for a magazine from his alma mater, he leapt he’s a luminary on the fl y, travelling 150 days out at the chance. “No joke,” he says, “McGill University of a given year. Our meeting was in early April (he completely transformed me.” was in Vancouver for TED) and he had already visited 15 countries in 2018. FASCINATED BY FASHION “My life,” says Amed, “is about immersing Previous to taking a commerce degree at McGill, myself in cultures. Going to McGill gave me this Amed was raised in Calgary (his parents moved ability to move effortlessly between worlds. there from Nairobi, just months before Amed’s Fashion, of course, is its own culture. You have birth). Calgary in the eighties and nineties, he says, to modulate, as you move through it. And that’s was “about as far from the world of fashion as you probably the most important thing in the world can imagine.” right now—to know how to move from one culture to another. There’s so much polarization and fracturing in the world.” Amed does not view the fashion industry as “My life is about immersing myself something fl ippant or shiny or expendable. It mat- ters deeply—and BoF is so enormously successful in cultures. Going to McGill gave because it knows how to take its subject seriously. me this ability to move effortlessly Amed may have a love for clothing itself—on the between worlds.” occasion of our interview he’s decked out in a gorgeous, oversized sweater of dusty rose—but his mind leans just as easily toward fashion’s sus- As a youngster, Amed began obsessively watch- tainability challenge, for example. He argues that ing Fashion File on CBC every Saturday. He grew companies need to become more agile, responding to admire its host, Tim Blanks (who now works as to global variations in size, climate, and taste, to an editor-at-large for BoF). minimize waste. “With all the data that’s now “[Blanks] provided a window into this elusive, collected, we should be able to more accurately exclusive world which peaked my curiosity as it was predict and respond to customers.” creative, it was a big business and it was global—all A minute later, Amed is discussing the tran- the things that interested me when I was growing sition from brick-and-mortar stores to online up,” says Amed. “I looked forward to it each week, shopping. “People talk about these two in opposi- especially for all of the interesting characters and tion, but I think they’ll be complementary.” Online personalities Tim spoke to: the designers and mod- off ers speed and convenience, but there will always els, of course, but also the editors, buyers and other be items that we want to touch or hold in person. industry professionals. I found it fascinating!”

M C GILL NEWS / 24 / SUMMER 2018 A minute after that, he’s describing a broad As BoF grows, Amed has other, related indus- shift toward narrative-based marketing, where tries in his sight. Business of Beauty might be a top-of-funnel initiatives draw customers in for reality in the not-too-distant future—Amed could long stretches before a purchase is even expected: do for shampoo, eyeliner, and nail polish what he’s “Consumer brands need to build content because done for t-shirts, gowns, and jeans. After that? that creates visibility in social media feeds and that, Business of Luxury, perhaps—making the power in turn, drives purchasing behaviour.” plays of champagne producers, yacht builders, and These are the sorts of insights Amed offers jewelry makers more understandable. through BoF. Crucial hints at where the indus- Like the world of fashion, these other indus- try is moving, and how it will get there (and how tries will continue to face transformations driven some will be left behind). His brain still works like by globalism, technological evolution and other someone from a consulting fi rm, parachuted in to forces. “We’ll always need information to help construct a map of unfamiliar territory. us understand that change. The media changes,” “At McKinsey, we had this thing called the Deep says Amed, “but not the need to understand what’s Structure Interview.” It was how they set about dis- happening.” secting an industry, fi guring out what really makes it tick. The brilliance of BoF is that it is conducting Michael Harris is a Vancouver-based writer and one, never-ending, Deep Structure Interview—and his work has appeared in Time, Wired, Salon, and the interviewee is a $2.4 trillion industry. This the Washington Post. He is the author of Solitude inquiry plays out on the BoF website, through its (2017) and The End of Absence (2014), which won daily newsletter, its podcasts, and also through the Governor General’s Literary Award for English the annual BoF Voices conference (an intellectual non-fi ction. salon for fashionistas), and its celebrity-studded BoF Galas.

STUART C. WILSON / GETTY IMAGES < > >> < Amed on stage Amed receiving Amed with during BOFVoices the Order of his colleague conference the British Tim Blanks in 2017 Empire from Prince William

M C GILL NEWS / 25 / SUMMER 2018 OWEN EGAN OWEN

THE WOMAN BEHIND THE TOY OF THE YEAR SYDNEY WISEMAN WANTED TO CREATE A TOY CRAZE BEFORE SHE TURNED 30. THANKS TO THE MASSIVE SUCCESS OF FINGERLINGS, SHE ACHIEVED THAT GOAL. by Brenda Branswell

M C GILL NEWS / 26 / SUMMER 2018 love toys,” Sydney Wiseman, BCom’11, EUREKA MOMENT says at the offi ces of WowWee, a robotic She came up with the idea for the toy sensation “ toy company in Montreal where her cubi- after seeing a photo in multiple places of a tiny cle is crammed with collectibles. “I’m pygmy marmoset monkey on a human fi nger. She defi nitely in the right industry.” remembers thinking, “This is a really cool toy, if A pink monkey hanging upside down you just fi gure out how to make it small so that it on her window ledge is Wiseman’s—and WowWee’s could fi t on a kid’s fi nger.” I She took the photo to WowWee’s chief technol- —big toy triumph from 2017, one that had desper- ate parents scrambling from one sold-out store to ogy offi cer to see if it was doable (it was) and then another in the days leading up to Christmas. worked with a colleague who designed the monkeys. Wiseman was the one who came up with the idea WowWee launched the Fingerlings in the spring for Fingerlings, tiny comical interactive monkeys of 2017 in Canada and the United Kingdom. The that curl around your fi nger and laugh, kiss, snore, response in the U.K. was so strong WowWee had to burp, fart—you name it. pull their television advertising when they ran out The Fingerlings, which include slower-moving of product. “We had purchased four weeks of TV, but sloths and unicorns, struck an instant chord last after two weeks we were sold out,” Wiseman says. year and became one of the most sought-after The response in Canada was similar, “so we were toys in the holiday season. Walmart, Toys “R” Us, feeling good about it,” she says, but the U.S. market Target —they all struggled to keep up with demand. is much bigger and more fi nicky. The competition At the Toy of the Year Awards in New York there is fi erce. City in February—the toy industry’s Oscars—the The company invested heavily even before the Fingerlings won Collectible of the Year and shared product was released in the U.S. last August to make the evening’s biggest prize, Toy of the Year. Among people aware of it. the other winners this year were many of the indus- Instead of the typical toy industry “unboxing” try’s most recognizable names—Disney, Hasbro, videos where kids watch promotional videos of other Lego and Mattel. kids opening toys, the WowWee team came up with Two days later at another gala in Gotham, the idea for an “unbashing,” Wiseman says. They sent Wiseman won creator of the year at the annual banana-shaped piñatas stuff ed with Fingerlings to Wonder Women Awards. infl uential “mommy bloggers” who bashed them open Heady stuff . on “Fingerlings Friday,” the day of the U.S. launch. “Winning Toy of the Year was really the moment The amount of eyeballs drawn to their prod- where I was like, ‘OK, this actually all worked,’” uct that day was “probably case-study worthy,” Wiseman says. Wiseman says. Of course, there was ample proof before then. Sales swiftly took off in the States. Wiseman calls herself a brand manager at the “Shelves were bare very quickly and it was our company owned by her uncles Richard Yanofsky, job to fi gure out how to get more products so that BA’80, and Peter Yanofsky, BA’71, BA’77, but says, we wouldn’t have disappointed kids at Christmas,” “We’re not really big on titles here.” Her mother she says. and two cousins also work at WowWee. “I’m chief The company’s lawyers also had to contend of all things Fingerlings, I guess.” with counterfeiters when fake Fingerlings began springing up. >

< Sydney Wiseman with an array of Fingerling toys, including the new Fingerlings HUG stuffed animal

M C GILL NEWS / 27 / SUMMER 2018 Wiseman spent Christmas morning online— Even at McGill, where she studied in the Desautels and was delighted by what she discovered. “If you Faculty of Management, Wiseman says her market- went on Instagram and you searched the hashtag ing projects were always kid related. So much so, #fingerlings, the amount of kids that had their that one of her professors landed her an interview Fingerlings—that was the highlight of my life at a rival toy company, Mega Bloks, not realizing probably.” that Wiseman’s family was in the toy business. The Fingerlings make some 40 sounds that kids “She was like, ‘You have to go, it’s such a good can activate—by petting or tapping their heads, for fi t for you.’ And I was like, ‘Uh, a bit confl icting, so example. Wiseman believes there are a few reasons thank you, but… ’” Wiseman laughs. why they became such a hit.

HIGH-TECH AND HIGH-TOUCH Most of the competition in the interactive pet cate- “My grandfather, he used to have gory are “watch me” toys, in Wiseman’s estimation. What she believes WowWee achieved, that res- a saying that you can’t spoil a good onated really well, “was the emotional connection thing. So I used to get to go to between the kid and the toy. So I kiss you and you Toys “R” Us every Sunday.” kiss me back, or when I pet you, the toy acknowl- edges that you made it feel good. “There really is that ‘OK, I’m able to control the She wanted to do her own thing in starting her outcome of my toy,’ which I think is really magical.” career and worked on an app after she graduated. In an interview with the BBC, British toy expert Her offi ce was in WowWee’s building and one of Richard Gottlieb concurred, describing the her uncles would frequently seek out her opinion Fingerlings as “just a really great combi- on toys. As that happened more and more, Wise- nation of high-tech and high-touch.” man says she realized “this is really what I should The Fingerlings targeted a fairly be doing.” wide demographic among chil- A lot of her time is spent looking at what’s trend- dren, which Wiseman thinks ing and what’s cool—and how she and the WowWee helped create buzz and momen- team could transform those trends into toys. tum. “We saw three-year-olds She is focused on making the Fingerlings “a that were going to bed with dream brand” with staying power. [them]. We saw seven-year-old The broadening line includes an interactive boys who were making them stuffed animal—Fingerlings HUGS—due out in fart consistently.” August. Wiseman holds a fuchsia-coloured monkey A Montreal native, Wiseman and demonstrates its vocal repertoire, including has lots of toy knowledge to draw a kissing “Mwah” sound, a “Weeeee!” when being on. She has collected them all her life. swung, and an “Ouch” when dropped. A HUG can “My grandfather, he used to have a say- play back what you say to it in a high-pitched voice, ing that you can’t spoil a good thing. So I used to and its long arms and Velcro-covered hands enable get to go to Toys “R” Us every Sunday. I got a toy it to wrap around your neck. every single Sunday of my life growing up. Literally, “I wanted to have a fad before I was 30, my whole he’s responsible for the reason I’m in toys.” life. I don’t know why ... Since Beanie Babies, it was Her favourites as a kid? like ‘I want to have a fad or a craze before I’m 30,’” “Polly Pocket [was] number one for sure … says Wiseman, 28. it probably changed my life. And then, Barbie, Mission accomplished. number two.” Brenda Branswell is a communications officer at McGill in University Advancement and a senior contributing writer for the McGill News. She worked as a journalist and editor at The Montreal Gazette for more than 13 years.

M C GILL NEWS / 28 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNI PROFILE

THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN CANADIAN PUBLISHING

s the CEO of Penguin Random House Canada, a multi-imprint conglomerate that pro-

duces 6,000 titles annually, BRAD MARTIN, BISTONATH ALYSSA BA’77, is indisputably the top individual in the country’s book business. And when he After a series of takeovers and mergers in the rapidly consoli- holds forth on the state of the industry in a dating industry—where he developed a reputation as a calming library-likeA inner sanctum high above Toronto’s King-Spadina manager in times of stress and an effi cient integrator of rival neighbourhood, the aff able, well-coiff ed 61-year-old seems teams—he became president of Random House Canada in 2007, every bit the man who was born for the comfortable rigours and then CEO of Penguin Random House Canada in 2013. of the book trade. His perspective remains that of a sales guy, and he sees As a young man, Martin couldn’t have predicted where he no conflict between the competing claims of commercial would wind up, but he knew one thing—he wasn’t interested and literary book publishing. “If you’re not careful, you run in taking over his family’s dairy farm in Southwestern Ontario. into the danger of defi ning literature as that which doesn’t “I went as far as I could to get away from milking cows,” he sell. But good Canadian writing does sell. People like to look says of his decision to move to Montreal and study at McGill. back fondly to the era of Mordecai Richler, Robertson Davies, “I was a kind of a free agent, living on my own in the student Gabrielle Roy, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, but hey, they were ghetto. And what that experience of McGill opened up for me was big sellers, all of them.” the diversity of the world—my friends were Jewish Montrealers The publisher fared well last fall in earning some of Canada’s from Côte St-Luc, Indian Kenyans, South Americans who all biggest book prizes. Penguin Random House authors won lived together in the high-rises.” the Scotiabank Giller Prize and four Writer’s Trust Awards. His study hall was a tavern owned by Canadiens legend Henri Still, Martin sees no virtue in publishing hard-to-sell titles no Richard where the beer was cheap and the ceiling was cross- matter what their literary credentials. “If all you’re looking for hatched with hockey sticks. The formative combination of beer is critical success, unless you have a wealthy benefactor, you’re and books is an overlapping theme in his career. His periodic not going to do well. You need to sell books. This is a business ritual as a homeward-bound student was to walk down Milton not a hobby.” Street and search for a bargain in The Word, the McGill Ghetto’s Potential authors, particularly in non-fiction, are assessed, iconic second-hand bookstore. If nothing turned up, he would in part, by their social-media reach—Martin cites musician backtrack to the depanneur for a quart of beer. “I could aff ord to Alan Doyle, YouTube personality Lilly Singh, vegan chef buy one or the other. But I couldn’t aff ord both.” Angela Liddon, and University of Toronto psychology professor When he moved to Toronto for graduate school, he found Jordan Peterson, PhD’91, as best-selling authors who arrived work at a seafood restaurant and passed time between shifts with a ready-made following. Young-adult fictional phenom- at its upstairs bar—which happened to be a legendary book- ena such as Harry Potter thrive in this word-of-mouth milieu, trade hangout. and simultaneously provide proof that books will endure as Over a beer or two, he became fast friends with the sales physical objects. manager of McClelland & Stewart, who off ered him a job. Within “Millennials want to be able to broadcast to their peers what 15 years, he ascended from salesman to CEO of Penguin Canada. they’re reading,” Martin says, surrounded by brilliantly coloured hardcovers in his meeting room sanctuary. “Well, you can’t do < that with an ebook. The hard-copy book is an artifact that isn’t Brad Martin is the CEO going away.” of Penguin Random John Allemang House Canada

M C GILL NEWS / 29 / SUMMER 2018 ADRIÀ FRUITOS TANGO MÉDIATIQUE LES MILIEUX UNIVERSITAIRE ET DE LA RECHERCHE GAGNENT À CULTIVER LEURS RELATIONS AVEC LES MÉDIAS. MAIS ATTENTION… À L’ÈRE DES VÉRITÉS PARALLÈLES ET DES NOUVELLES FACTICES, LA TÂCHE PEUT SE RÉVÉLER COMPLEXE.

par Jean-Benoît Nadeau (B.A. 1992)

eu après les attentats de Paris en qu’ils accordent aux résultats des chercheurs novembre 2015, la France est aux en matière de communication. Mais aussi parce prises avec des centaines de trau- qu’il importe de corriger certaines perceptions du matisés et Alain Brunet arrive à la public : en septembre 2017, un sondage commandé rescousse. Le professeur agrégé par le Centre des sciences de l’Ontario révélait au Département de psychiatrie et que 43 % des Canadiens jugent que la science est directeur de la Division de recherche psychosociale «affaire d’opinion»! P Les rapports entre chercheurs et journalistes de l’Institut Douglas a mis au point un traitement simple et efficace du syndrome de stress post- sont rarement simples. Les chercheurs se méfi ent traumatique. Les autorités françaises lui deman- souvent des journalistes, qu’ils jugent brouil- dent d’enseigner sa méthode à 160 cliniciens, dans lons et sensationnalistes. Quant aux journalistes, 20 hôpitaux. L’impact médiatique est énorme. obligés de traduire du jargon, ils ne savent pas Nombre d’émissions, telles que The Nature of toujours comment interpréter des conclusions très Things sur CBC et Envoyé spécial sur France 2, lui mesurées et des perspectives abstraites. consacrent de longs reportages. «Un chercheur n’est pas un animal médiatique, Ce succès a valu à Alain Brunet l’obtention du il travaille dans son petit bureau à creuser son idée », Prix de la principale pour le rayonnement public raconte Alain Brunet, qui explique avoir apprivoisé et médiatique, remis pour la première fois en la bête médiatique à la suite du 11 septembre 2001. mars 2017 lors du Gala Bravo, qui célèbre l’excel- L’attaque terroriste contre le World Trade Center lence en recherche à l’Université McGill. Ce nouveau a soudainement placé son sujet d’étude, alors quasi prix récompense les eff orts de chercheurs et d’étu- confi dentiel, sous les feux de la rampe. «Presque diants aux cycles supérieurs qui s’emploient à du jour au lendemain, j’ai dû accepter que mon présenter les fruits de leurs travaux à la communauté. boulot serait aussi de répondre aux journalistes. Les milieux universitaire et de la recherche Maintenant, je le fais de bon cœur, mais au début, gagnent à cultiver leurs relations avec les médias. ce n’était vraiment pas gratifi ant de les entendre Par intérêt, certes, puisqu’un nombre croissant de poser les mauvaises questions.» > fonds subventionnaires lient le soutien financier

M C GILL NEWS / 31 / SUMMER 2018 « Quand des gens instruits nient des faits tels que le réchauffement climatique, il devient évident que les chercheurs doivent devenir plus visibles sur la place publique. »

Contrairement à Alain Brunet, c’est plutôt une Si Catherine Potvin a consenti tous ces eff orts, stratégie réfl échie qui a poussé Catherine Potvin c’est aussi par conviction sociale. «Les impôts ont à faire appel aux médias. Professeure au Dépar- payé mes études et ma carrière. D’ailleurs, tous tement de biologie et titulaire de la Chaire de les participants de DCV pensent comme moi : recherche du Canada en changements climatiques il faut que les Canadiens voient à quoi sert leur et forêts tropicales, son action communautaire investissement.» relevait davantage de la diplomatie environne- mentale— notamment comme négociatrice lors FAITS PARALLÈLES ET du Sommet de Copenhague sur le climat et le INFORMATIONS FALLACIEUSES développement durable en 2009. Un point de vue que partage Tina Gruosso, boursière postdoctorale en recherche oncologique à la Fondation Charlotte et Leo Karassik et rattachée au Centre de recherche sur le cancer Goodman. À ses yeux, lesvérités parallèles et les nouvelles factices sont le principal enjeu du rapprochement entre les chercheurs et les médias. C’est sa lutte contre cet obscurantisme 3.0 qui lui a valu le Prix

SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT SARAH de la principale pour le rayonnement public et médiatique 2018 à titre d’étudiante postdoctorale. Vice-présidente de l’association Dialogue sciences et politiques, elle partage son prix avec sa collègue du Centre Goodman, Vanessa Sung, avec qui elle a mené une campagne nationale visant à promouvoir la recherche fondamentale. «L’accumulation de fausses nouvelles et de faits alternatifs entraîne une perte de confi ance du Alain Brunet public, dit Tina Gruosso. Cela nourrit un mystère malsain. Quand des gens instruits nient des faits L’échec de cet événement a forcé une remise tels que le réchauff ement climatique, il devient en question : «Comment intéresser les Canadiens évident que les chercheurs doivent devenir plus au développement durable?». Cette réfl exion l’a visibles sur la place publique.» amenée à conclure qu’elle devait exercer une infl u- « L’époque où le scientifi que descendait de sa ence auprès des médias, en produisant des articles tour d’ivoire pour s’adresser au peuple est révolue », d’opinion, en se rendant disponible pour commenter dit Yanick Villedieu, qui a animé pendant 35 ans l’actualité et en mettant sur pied des initiatives de la populaire émission Les années lumière à la radio communication. À cette fin, elle crée Dialogues de Radio-Canada, avant de prendre sa retraite pour un Canada vert (DCV), un regroupement de en 2017. Il constate que le rapprochement entre 80 chercheurs. En 2017, le rapport de DCV sur la chercheurs et médias est réel. «En 1975, au congrès transition énergétique est présenté au gouver- de l’ACFAS, les organisateurs refusaient que les nement fédéral et largement repris par les médias. journalistes circulent librement. Ils disaient: En mars 2018, cet intérêt vaudra à la chercheuse le “Vous allez écrire n’importe quoi.” Maintenant, Prix de la principale pour le rayonnement public ils nous courent après. » et médiatique, qui en était à sa deuxième édition.

M C GILL NEWS / 32 / SUMMER 2018 Tina Gruosso est convaincue que la commu- nication non scientifi que devrait être enseignée de manière offi cielle aux chercheurs. «Notre for- RADIO CANADA RADIO mation scientifi que est dans la nuance et le doute. Ça nous dessert en communication. Comment s’extraire des abstractions? Comment simplifi er le message tout en étant juste?»

FUIR LE SENSATIONNALISME Comment juger si l’on en fait assez? Car il est en effet possible d’en faire presque trop—comme l’a découvert Anja Geitmann en 2013. Alors profes- seure à l’Université de Montréal, elle publie les résultats d’une recherche sur la reproduction des Yanick Villedieu plantes en hypergravité. Pour la version anglaise du communiqué, les relations médias proposent Des résistances demeurent néanmoins. Dans un titre olé olé : «Le sexe à zéro gravité» [Sex certaines facultés, on juge parfois très mal les at Zero Gravity]. Ce qui devait arriver arriva : le professeurs trop visibles sur la scène médiatique, jour même, le quotidien londonien Daily Mail dont on déplore le «manque de sérieux». Selon reprend la nouvelle avec un titre encore plus Carole Graveline, directrice principale du Service racoleur : «Mauvaise nouvelle si vous rêvez de des relations avec les médias et instigatrice du vous envoyer en l’air dans les airs : Des cher- Prix de la principale pour le rayonnement public cheurs découvrent que le sexe dans l’espace peut et médiatique, le fait que ce prix soit décerné en entraîner des maladies fatales» [Bad news for présence de la principale et des pairs transmet the 220 mile-high club: Researchers find sex in clairement aux facultés l’importance de valoriser space could lead to life-threatening illnesses]. la communication. «C’est une priorité de la prin- Anja Geitmann reçoit des demandes d’entrevues cipale», souligne-t-elle. de partout dans le monde, certaines loufoques, «Jusqu’à tout récemment, ce n’était pas d’autres plus sérieuses. Cinq ans plus tard, elle pris en compte dans les évaluations», convient en rit encore. «Notre titre a eu de l’effet, mais j’ai Alain Brunet. «Les subventions, oui. Les publi- tout de même émis un autre communiqué pour cations scientifiques, oui. La communication, corriger certaines perceptions.» > c’est nouveau. Le prix vient dire que ça compte.» Catherine Potvin a reçu ce prix avec fierté—et soulagement. «Comme chercheur, on est pénalisé lorsque nous consacrons notre temps aux médias, parce qu’il s’agit de temps qu’on ne consacre pas à la publication d’articles scientifiques.» DISANDOLO TOM Anja Geitmann, doyenne de la Faculté des sciences de l’agriculture et de l’environnement de l’Université McGill, lance un message non équivoque sur ce point. «Comme doyenne, je valorise beaucoup la communication. Je suis à même de la juger et de la reconnaître dans l’évaluation annuelle.»

Anja Geitmann

M C GILL NEWS / 33 / SUMMER 2018 « Oui, certains journalistes vont vite en affaires. Mais il y a des chercheurs qui s’enthousiasment, et des services de relations publiques qui en beurrent épais. »

COMMUNICATION 101 Outre ce type de breff age, le Service des relations avec les médias de l’Université McGill propose des cours de «communication 101» à l’intention des chercheurs. Anne Caroline Desplanques, journa-

SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT SARAH liste scientifi que au Journal de Montréal, a donné un séminaire de deux heures à un groupe d’étudiants aux cycles supérieurs—une formation qui n’est pas sans rappeler les concours «Ma thèse en trois minutes». «Je leur avais donné un devoir : expli- quez à votre mère ce que vous faites et l’intérêt que ça représente. Plusieurs se sont arraché les cheveux. Ils ne l’avaient jamais fait. Pour ceux qui avaient plus de mal, je leur ai demandé de Barry Eidlin commencer par me faire un dessin au tableau.» Bien des chercheurs doivent se faire expliquer «Oui, certains journalistes vont vite en aff aires», le journalisme. Si les journalistes sautent aux juge Yanick Villedieu. «Mais il y a des chercheurs conclusions ou cherchent l’anecdote, ce n’est qui s’enthousiasment, et des services de relations pas nécessairement parce qu’ils sont brouillons publiques qui en beurrent épais. Quand on annonce ou sensationnalistes, mais parce que leur métier un “Grand espoir dans la lutte contre le cancer du consiste à dénicher «la» nouvelle ou «ce qui est poumon” basé sur 150 cas, le boulot du journaliste intéressant». Ils doivent par ailleurs se conformer est de considérer ça avec prudence, mais tous n’ont à des formats archi-serrés et à des délais parfois pas le discernement voulu.» irréalistes. Anja Geitmann a appris à gérer les médias un «En 300 mots, on ne peut pas transmettre toutes peu sur le tas. «La formation la plus utile que j’ai les nuances», convient Anne Caroline Desplanques. eue, c’est une discussion de 15 minutes avec un «Mais il faut y voir le point de départ d’une conver- spécialiste des médias de McGill qui m’a expliqué sation. Lorsque le journaliste y reviendra, ce sera comment me préparer, quelle attitude prendre et l’occasion de véhiculer d’autres messages.» comment réagir.» Cette formule lui a été particu- Les médias aff ectionnent tout particulièrement lièrement utile en mars 2018, lorsqu’elle a annoncé les chercheurs qui s’expriment avec clarté. «J’ai la création d’un certifi cat spécialisé en culture du une collègue qui plaide pour le jargon. Elle dit : cannabis—nouveau bombardement médiatique ! “Il faut le mot juste, il faut des termes spécia- «Ça prend du sang-froid, d’autant plus que ma lisés”», dit Alain Brunet. « D’accord, mais on devrait langue maternelle est l’allemand.» toujours privilégier la compréhension. Le rôle des spécialistes est d’expliquer les choses simplement.»

M C GILL NEWS / 34 / SUMMER 2018 Barry Eidlin, professeur adjoint de sociologie, est Alors, oui, c’est vrai, les chercheurs doivent souvent appelé à commenter l’actualité économique composer avec le problème de la simplification en français ou en anglais sur des sujets aussi variés outrancière. « Parfois, le journaliste cherche une que Uber et l’économie de partage, ou Tim Hortons solution toute faite. “Comment éviter le stress post- et la hausse du salaire minimum. «Sans nécessaire- traumatique en une minute !” » dit Alain Brunet. ment vulgariser, on peut s’exprimer dans un langage « Je suis alors obligé de dire que chaque personne plus direct, plus accessible. Ça me vient naturelle- est diff érente, que le choc est normal, que la plupart ment, peut-être parce que j’ai été recruteur syndical des gens s’en remettent d’eux-mêmes et qu’il existe dans une autre vie.» de l’aide pour les autres. Ça donne des entrevues Mais les chercheurs n’ont pas entièrement tort cocasses, où on cherche à calmer le journaliste ! » d’être circonspects, reconnaît Yanick Villedieu. «Il y a des médias moins sérieux que d’autres. Jean-Benoît Nadeau est journaliste à la revue Dans certaines rédactions, on dit : “Les journalistes L’actualité. Son article sur l’astronaute qui ne connaissent rien posent les vraies questions.” David Saint-Jacques, publié dans notre numéro de C’est faux, mais ça existe.» Anja Geitmann a l’été 2017, lui a valu de recevoir une médaille de d’ailleurs appris à en tirer parti. «Devant un jour- bronze du Conseil canadien pour l’avancement naliste brouillon ou mal préparé, on peut diriger de l’éducation pour le meilleur article de fond en la conversation, mais il faut être préparé.» français paru dans une publication universitaire.

RAYONNEMENT PUBLIC DIGNE DE MENTION

LE NOM DES GAGNANTS DE L’ÉDITION 2017 DU PRIX DE LA PRINCIPALE POUR LE RAYONNEMENT PUBLIC ET MÉDIATIQUE A ÉTÉ ANNONCÉ LORS DU GALA BRAVO DE L’UNIVERSITÉ MCGILL, ORGANISÉ EN L’HONNEUR DE CHERCHEURS ET D’ÉRUDITS D’EXCEPTION. L’ÉVÉNEMENT ANNUEL A EU LIEU LE 15 MARS.

PRIX DE LA PRINCIPALE PRIX RECONNAISSANCE POUR POUR LE RAYONNEMENT PUBLIC RÉALISATIONS EXCEPTIONNELLES ET MÉDIATIQUE Professeur Karl Moore Professeure Catherine Potvin Faculté de gestion Desautels Département de biologie (Prix décerné aux professeurs) Professeur Joe Schwarcz Organisation pour la science et Tina Gruosso la société de l’Université McGill Département d’oncologie Gerald Bronfman et MENTION SPÉCIALE Vanessa Sung Département de biochimie Groupe Instagram @McGill_Architecture (Prix décerné aux étudiants aux cycles École d’architecture Peter Guo-hua Fu supérieurs, aux associés de recherche et Collectif Instagram @McGill_Rare aux boursiers postdoctoraux) Bibliothèque de l’Université McGill

Groupe d’initiation à la chimie de l’Université McGill Département de chimie

M C GILL NEWS / 35 / SUMMER 2018 READY FOR THEIR CLOSE-UP

n the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, EGAN OWEN French authorities reached out to Alain Brunet. An associate professor of psychiatry at McGill, Brunet co-developed an innovative approach for weakening the eff ects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Interactions between journalists and university research- When he was asked to share his methods with ers aren’t always smooth. Researchers are wary of how their clinicians at 20 French hospitals, the media took notice. work will be portrayed and see some journalists as sloppy and I sensationalistic. Journalists, meanwhile, view many university France’s weekly investigative newsmagazine Envoyé special and the CBC’s The Nature of Things both devoted long segments researchers as being overly fond of academic jargon and incapa- to Brunet and his work. Earlier in his career, Brunet admits that ble of explaining their work in a straightforward way. coming under such media scrutiny would have been about as Yanick Villedieu, a longtime science journalist and the pleasant as the sound of fi ngernails on a chalkboard. former host of Radio-Canada’s Les Années lumières, says “Researchers are not media-friendly by nature,” says researchers are far more open to working with the media than Brunet. “They spend their time in small offi ces deeply exploring they once were. diffi cult ideas.” He remembers a time when reporters were given only Last year, Brunet became the fi rst recipient of a new award limited access at some scientifi c conferences. “[Conference for researchers at McGill, the Principal’s Prize for Public organizers] said, ‘If we give you free reign, you’ll write rubbish.’ Engagement through the Media. Biology professor Catherine Today, those same scientists are running after us.” Potvin received the same award this March. Unlike Brunet, Tina Gruosso, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill’s Goodman Potvin made a conscious decision to seek out media attention Cancer Research Centre, believes that journalists and university —not for herself, but for the causes she was involved in. researchers have a powerful motivation for collaborating more Potvin had worked on the 2009 United Nations Climate closely. Both professions share a commitment to the truth—and Change Conference and was troubled by the lack of public the truth is under siege in a “fake news” era. interest in both the conference and in environmental issues in “It fosters an unhealthy kind of scepticism,” says Gruosso of general. “I asked myself, ‘What will get Canadians interested fake news and “alternate facts.” “When you see educated people in sustainable development?’” start denying facts like climate change, it means researchers Potvin, a Canada Research Chair in Climate Change need to boost their visibility in the public sphere.” Mitigation and Tropical Forests, made herself available for Gruosso, who shared a Principal’s Prize for Public Engage- press interviews and wrote op-ed pieces for the media. She ment through the Media for her contributions to a public also became the coordinator for Sustainable Canada Dialogues outreach campaign aimed at encouraging the federal govern- (SCD), a national network of 80 researchers that hopes to ment to increase its funding for basic science research, would infl uence both governments and the public. SCD produced a like to see younger scientists receive better guidance in how widely discussed report for the federal government on how to work with the press. Canada can become a low-carbon energy economy while remain- “Our scientific training is all about nuance and doubt,” ing globally competitive. says Gruosso. “But when it comes to [communicating with “My studies and my career were paid for with taxes,” says the public], that works against us. How do you make your Potvin. “Canadians deserve to see what they are getting for their message simple, but precise?” investment.” By working with the media, she believes she is able Potvin says university researchers haven’t always received to share her expertise with a much wider audience. encouragement to take the time to work with the media. “It’s looked at as time we didn’t spend producing scientific < articles.” Brunet agrees, but believes things are changing. Catherine Potvin receives the “The [Principal’s Prize] sends the message that this type of Principal’s Prize for Public Engagement communication counts.” through the Media from Vice-Principal (Communications and External By Jean-Benoît Nadeau, BA’92 Relations) Louis Arseneault Translation by Julie Barlow, BA’91

M C GILL NEWS / 36 / SUMMER 2018 Join influential leaders BECOME AN AMBASSADOR

There is a lot of positive impact you get from organizing conferences“ in terms of personal visibility as a scientist in your community, which opens a lot of doors for you in your scientific community. This allows you, even at the very early stage in your career, to gain a visibility you wouldn’t gain otherwise. And since you get help from the Palais des congrès, Tourisme Montréal and professional conference organizer, it’s not that much work.” Fabrice Labeau Associate Dean, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University Appointed Ambassador

congresmtl.com/ambassadorsclub ALUMNI PROFILE

AN ADVOCATE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

ou probably aren’t familiar with the City of Montreal agency that NANCY SHOIRY, MArch’92, heads up, but it’s one that plays a

vital role in everything from the availability EGAN OWEN of aff ordable housing in Montreal, to the con- struction of major new developments like “The City of Montreal is a great employer for learning all kinds Îlot Balmoral at the Quartier des spectacles, the future head- of jobs,” says Shoiry. “I’ve learned that I’m there to infl uence, but Y I’m not the decision-maker. [In] planning departments, we’re quarters for the National Film Board of Canada. “My passion is related to the social impact of my work,” says protecting the development of the city, but we’re not guardians Shoiry, the executive director of the Société d’habitation et de of the city.” développement de Montréal (SHDM). About fi ve years ago, the SHDM’s governance shifted towards The SHDM rents out 4,700 aff ordable apartments on the developing what the private sector wasn’t necessarily inter- island, including rooming houses and units for families and ested in pursuing. Shoiry is excited about one of the SHDM’s seniors. It also off ers programs and incentives to help Montrealers latest projects, a partnership with the Société de transport de purchase condos. Montréal (STM): The Frontenac real estate complex will feature “We have a diversifi ed portfolio of commercial, institutional, 298 newly-constructed apartments, including 60 social housing cultural, and housing assets, and although we’re a nonprofi t, our units and 109 aff ordable units. commercial buildings produce income that allows us to invest in The complex, which will also include 25,700 square feet of more social venues,” explains Shoiry. STM offi ce space, will be built on land owned by the STM, located She still remembers her response years ago when she fi rst near the Frontenac metro station. heard about the launch of a new aff ordable housing program “This is our future; we believe public land should stay in the at McGill. public realm,” says Shoiry. “Responsible property investment is “It was exactly what I’d been looking for,” recalls Shoiry, who something that we’re defending very strongly now because of the took a sabbatical from her job at Habitation Communautaire lack of land. The city once had an approach of selling properties Centre-Sud, a nonprofi t social housing organization, to study at market value, so this is one of our solutions.” with Avi Friedman, MArch’83, and Witold Rybczynski, BArch’66, Another SHDM project, Maison du Père, will supply hous- MArch’72, DSc’02. ing for older, chronically ill men. The agency is transforming “We were encouraged to constantly think outside the box, an existing property in partnership with a broad assortment and my thesis professor, Pieter Sijpkes, was a true inspiration,” of community groups and is seeking philanthropic support for says Shoiry. the project. Over the next 10 years, Shoiry blazed a trail through many “We’re trying to build a network—an ecosystem—and mobilize key jobs for the city. She became director of urban planning for the private philanthropic community capital to expand the pool downtown Montreal in 2008. of investment,” explains Shoiry. After a one-year stint as a vice-president for the Société du While Montreal is attracting increasing numbers of highly Vieux-Port de Montréal in 2011, Shoiry returned to the City skilled workers in the tech industries, the city isn’t yet facing the of Montreal as director of land development, overseeing 250 same kind of aff ordability crunch for housing that affl icts Toronto employees. She took on her current role at the SHDM in 2015. and Vancouver. That doesn’t mean there isn’t work to be done. “Public investment alone will not solve the aff ordability crisis, < and the private sector will not provide aff ordable units if they’re Nancy Shoiry is the not obligated to,” says Shoiry. “Luckily, we have an administra- executive director tion with a very strong political will for aff ordable and social of the Société d’habitation et de développement housing, and we’re currently discussing how we can contribute de Montréal to its objective of adding 12,000 new units within four years.” Wendy Helfenbaum

M C GILL NEWS / 38 / SUMMER 2018 OCTOBER

PLAN TO JOIN US FOR THESE SIGNATURE CAMPUS EVENTS

ROXANE GAY Bestselling Author, Professor, Editor and Cultural Commentator

OCTOBER 11 | Beatty Memorial Lecture

PLUS OTHER SPECIAL STEVE PATTERSON EVENTS INCLUDE: Award-Winning Comedian, Humour Writer and Host of ` 23rd Annual Sports Hall of Fame Luncheon, CBC Radio One's The Debaters October 11

| ` Golden Jubilee Dinner: A 50th Anniversary OCTOBER 12 49th Annual Leacock Luncheon Celebration for the Class of 1968 and Salute to Earlier Classes, October 12

` Homecoming Football Game and Family Tailgate, October 13

` Faculty, Macdonald Campus and GINA McCARTHY Young Alumni events – and much more! Former Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency For more information on travel to Montreal, | OCTOBER 12 McGill School of Environment the weekend schedule and registration, visit: Annual Public Lecture OCTOBER 13 | Sir William Macdonald Luncheon alumni.mcgill.ca/homecoming

ALUMNI REVIEWS

IT’S NOT AS BAD AS YOU THINK

uthor and cognitive psychologist STEVEN PINKER , BA’76, DSc’99, is here to tell you that things aren’t quite as catastrophic as you might believe. In fact, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that things are getting better—a lot better—in all kinds of ways. He has dozens of statisticalA charts to back that up. ROSE LINCOLN / HARVARD UNIVERSITY Most of the progress pointed to on those charts are a product of the Enlightenment and its central values—reason, science But that focus on the negative has its own negative side- and humanism. “The Enlightenment has worked—perhaps eff ects. We believe that things are getting worse, says Pinker, the greatest story seldom told,” Pinker writes in his latest because the bad news is what comes to mind most readily since book Enlightenment Now (which is where you’ll fi nd all those we hear about it constantly. And there are real dangers associated helpful charts). with believing that the world is on a downward spiral. As Pinker began researching the book, he found himself One of them, he says, is fatalism. “Why should I bother trying frequently surprised. to make things better if all problems are intractable?” “I was not aware of the huge gains in safety; we’re 90 per cent The other risk, says Pinker, is radicalism. “If you think that less likely to drown and 92 per cent less likely to be burned to institutions are failing so badly that they’re beyond reform, death. I was not aware of the huge increase in literacy worldwide beyond improvement, you’ll be open to calls to burn the empire to —90 per cent of the people in the world under the age of 25 are the ground in the hope that anything that rises out of the ashes is now literate. I was surprised at the decline of so many dis- bound to be better than what we have now.” Demagogues thrive eases. Malaria is in decline, pneumonia is in decline, [diarrheal in such environments, he says. diseases] are in decline. These are diseases that used to kill a lot What would Pinker say if he found himself in a room full of of people in the developing world, especially children.” senior editors from CNN, the New York Times and other news The two-time Pulitzer Prize fi nalist says there are very good organizations? reasons why we tend to believe that the world is in a sorry state. “I think reporters and columnists should be encouraged to Wars receive media coverage. The fact that the number of put things into statistical and historical context,” says Pinker. annual battle deaths has plummeted around the world since 1950 “We need to report on gradual developments. A lot of the things is ignored. Car crashes make the news. The fact that car-related [that] change our world happen a few percentage points at a pedestrian deaths in the U.S. have plunged since 1935 does not. time, [but they] accumulate to massive changes, such as the Instances of famine attract the news cameras. The fact that the decline in extreme poverty worldwide. Those stories deserve annual number of famine deaths has decreased dramatically in coverage as well.” the last 100 years doesn’t. Pinker would also encourage editors to “follow up on some of “I think in the culture of journalism, there is a fear of compla- the crises of yesterday, to let people know how they were dealt cency,” says Pinker. “They see their role as safeguarding against with. If you are reporting on a disaster or a calamity when it complacency—so that people [can become] aware of the pain occurs and you leave it at that, it gets fi xed [in] people’s memo- and injustice and suff ering in the world—and that’s absolutely ries. In the eighties, there was a huge amount of coverage about admirable.” the homeless. Very few people realize that, in the U.S. at least, < the rate of homelessness has been slashed [since the eighties] Steven Pinker is because of the success of shelters and other programs.” a two-time Daniel McCabe, BA’89 Pulitzer Prize Winner

M C GILL NEWS / 40 / SUMMER 2018 THE LAST 100 DAYS YOUNG FRANCES THE LOST GIRLS OF OCEAN AV by David B. Woolner, by Hartley Lin, BA’04 CAMP FOREVERMORE by Emma Frank, BA’10 MA’91, PhD’97 by Kim Fu, BA’09

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Publishing his work (until Those who were fortunate— After a year spent at McGill was one of the 20th century’s now) under the alias or unfortunate—enough to pursuing a degree in English, towering fi gures. In The Last Ethan Rilly, Hartley Lin is attend summer camp as children Emma Frank realized that 100 Days, historian David B. an up-and-comer in the know that it’s an experience music was her passion and Woolner off ers a thoughtful world of comics. which leaves an indelible decided to switch her major to and revealing assessment of His Pope Hats has earned impression like, for example, jazz. There was only one prob- the 32nd U.S. president’s both of Canada’s top prizes being voted the quietest camper lem—she didn’t get accepted fi nal months. for comics, the Doug Wright (No, I don’t want to talk about it). into the jazz program. FDR had a lot on his and Joe Shuster Awards, The experience is much So Frank stayed put in plate—the war eff orts against and its fi fth issue is in the more traumatic for the Lost English, focused on the Germany and Japan, the com- running for an Eisner Award, Girls of Camp Forevermore. wordcraft in the poems she plicated relationships with arguably the industry’s most In this novel, Kim Fu explores studied, and began jotting the other key Allied powers, prestigious honour. There the formative summer camp down song lyrics in the the development of the atomic are echoes of Seth and Adrian experiences of fi ve girls in margins of her notebooks. bomb, planning for a post-war Tomine in his work, but Lin’s the Pacifi c Northwest. What And at night, she immersed economy and the creation of approach is distinctively begins as an overnight expe- herself in Montreal’s music the United Nations. his own. dition turns into a series of scene, building up an audi- Woolner covers some Young Frances collects unfortunate events and the ence for herself with a rich, fascinating ground, including a series of Pope Hats stories ramifi cations of that ordeal soothing voice that recent FDR’s enduring bond with about a twentysomething play out in their adult lives. Juno Award nominee Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd (their law clerk. The level-headed Through alternating chap- Leif Vollebekk described as past aff air almost destroyed Frances does her job with ters about the girls’ summer “like leather on silk.” That his marriage), and his doctors’ crisp effi ciency—and that camp ordeal and their present voice, crisp and vulnerable, deep concerns over his precar- attracts the attention of an day lives, Fu’s narrative holds more than a hint of ious health. eccentric senior partner at off ers briskly revealing vivid Joni Mitchell (though Frank Woolner also revisits the the fi rm. Her star seems to be portraits, like the story of herself points to Nina Simone fateful encounter at Yalta on the rise, but Frances isn’t Andee, neglected by her mother as a more direct infl uence). between Roosevelt, Churchill quite sure if she’s comfortable and enduring a perilous, After a decade spent in and Stalin, challenging the with that. peripatetic life, and Isabel Montreal, the U.S.-born notion that the Soviet leader Lin paints a subtly unset- whose life is dramatically singer-songwriter moved to outfoxed an increasingly fee- tling portrait of life at a major changed by sudden loss and Brooklyn two years ago. She’ll ble FDR over the post-war fate law fi rm—the offi ce politics, who eventually reconnects be returning to Montreal of Poland. With the war still the jockeying for position. As with Dina, a fellow camper. this summer to showcase being fought and the UN on Frances tries to decide what Each of the fi ve characters the songs on her new album the horizon, Roosevelt didn’t to do next professionally, she remembers Camp Forevermore Ocean Av at the International want to jeopardize relations is also busy tending to her in a diff erent way, and Jazz Festival. Pop Matters with the Soviets just yet. He relationships with her best diff erences in class, culture describes the album as a was confi dent in his ability friend (an actress who isn’t and education, which were “minor masterpiece” fi lled to steer the talks that began quite the irresponsible mess painfully apparent when with “quirky-gorgeous songs” in Yalta towards a reasonable she fi rst appears to be) and a the girls met at camp, subse- while La Presse applauds conclusion. He didn’t know he potential new love interest. quently inform each woman’s Frank for “songwriting in its wouldn’t get the chance. You’ll enjoy rooting for her. journey in life. highest form.” Daniel McCabe, BA’89 DM Andrew Mahon DM

M C GILL NEWS / 41 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNI ACTIVITIES 2018

HONOURS & AWARDS RECIPIENTS

esautels Faculty of Management super-volunteer AWARD OF MERIT Donald Lewtas led the way at this year’s McGill Donald Lewtas, BCom’75 Alumni Association (MAA) Honours and Awards banquet, receiving the MAA’s highest honour, the DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD Award of Merit. Henry Jonathan Birks, BA’67 DLewtas was recognized for his long-standing dedication Harriet H. Stairs, BA’67 to the Faculty, most recently as co-chair of the MBA Next 50 D. LORNE GALES SPECIAL Campaign supporting the expansion of the Desautels Faculty RECOGNITION AWARD of Management into the new Donald E. Armstrong Building, Sherrill Rand Harrison, BA’62 and as chair of the Council of Faculty Advisory Board Chairs. More than 300 guests, including Principal Suzanne Fortier E.P. TAYLOR AWARD and Chancellor Michael Meighen, attended the annual banquet Sherif G.S. Emil, MDCM’91 recognizing the outstanding achievements of students, faculty, ROBERT FUNG INTERNATIONAL staff , alumni and friends of the University. AWARD OF DISTINCTION Photos by Paul Fournier Henry Hing-Yip Tsang, BSc(Arch)’00, MArch’02 HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP AWARD Howard Davidson CATHERINE NANCE COMMON PRESIDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD Nickolas H. Cieslinski, BA’08 Sarah Babbage, BA’10 ALUMNI EVENT OF THE YEAR AWARD Canada 150 Event McGill Alumni Association of Zurich

HERE’S HARRIET CHARLES H. PETERS ALUMNI Exemplary volunteer and pioneer for the promotion of women GROUP OF THE YEAR AWARD in society, Harriet Stairs receives well deserved kudos from BSc(Agriculture) and BSc(Home Economics) Principal Suzanne Fortier, BSc’72, PhD’76, for her Distinguished Class of 1968 Service Award. DAVID JOHNSTON FACULTY AND STAFF AWARD Henry Mintzberg, BEng’61

HONORA SHAUGHNESSY MCGILL AMBASSADOR AWARD Timothy R. Murdoch JAMES G. WRIGHT AWARD Ai Thien Tran, BSW’09 GRETTA CHAMBERS STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARD Shawn Errunza, BEng’10, MDCM (in progress) CHOICE PRESIDENTS Alexander Lachapelle, MDCM (in progress) Nickolas Cieslinski and Sarah Babbage (centre) celebrate receiv- ing the Catherine Nance Common President of the Year Award for their outstanding work as Alumni Association of Washington co-presidents, flanked by Bobbi Bidochka, BA’11, (left) and Carolyn Brooks, BA’70, MEd’77 (right).

M C GILL NEWS / 42 / SUMMER 2018 MERITORIOUS DON Award of Merit recipient Donald Lewtas is presented with the MAA’s highest honour by Principal Fortier.

CLASS ACT < Accepting the Charles H. Peters Alumni Group of the Year Award on behalf of McGill’s Bachelor of Science (Agriculture and Home Economics) Class of 1968 are (from left to right): Stephen Casselman, Margery MacGregor, Barbara Lawson and Celia Topping (Moodie).

BRAVO BIRKS < Distinguished Service Award recipient Henry Jonathan Birks takes centre stage in good company (from left): Joan McGuigan, BCom’55, Maria Birks, Jonathan Birks, Margaret Stavert and Ginger Petty.

IN GOOD COMPANY Celebrating with family and friends, Henry Hing-Yip Tsang (third from left) was recognized with the Robert Fung International Award of Distinction for his accomplishments as president of the McGill Alumni Association of South Korea.

A TRIBUTE TO PRIDE AND PERSEVERANCE A native of Vietnam, Ai Thien Tran fled his home country by boat and lived as a stateless refugee in the Philippines for 12 years before being able to immi- grate to Canada. Today he is a social worker with the Government of Alberta and is involved in the Vietnamese Canadian Federation and the Citizen Advisory Committee of the Ottawa Parole Offi ce. He was recognized for his many achievements with the James G. Wright Award. <

OH HENRY < REMARKABLE RHODES A standing ovation greeted man- RECIPIENT agement guru Henry Mintzberg Among his many accomplish- when he was presented with the ments, Alexander Lachapelle is one David Johnston Faculty & Staff of McGill’s latest Rhodes Scholars Award by co-hosts Bob Babinski, and receives his Gretta Chambers BA’86 (middle), and past MAA pres- Student Leadership Award from ident, Alan Desnoyers, BCom’85. co-host and MAA President Bob Babinski.

M C GILL NEWS / 43 / SUMMER 2018 Distinguished Leader Award ALUMNI ACTIVITIES Mike Babcock, BEd’86, LLD’13 Impact Award Lawrence Bloomberg, MBA’65 MCGILL TORONTO Rising Star Award Kendra Alexia Hefti, BCL/LLB’16 EXCELLENCE AWARDS Lilia Koleva, BSc(Arch)’09, MArch’11

he inaugural McGill Toronto Excellence Awards Friend of McGill in were launched in June with an enthusiastic crowd of Toronto Award alumni, students, friends, family and guests attend- Marcel Desautels, LLD’07 ing an all-star luncheon celebration with some of Toronto’s heavy hitters from the world of sports, Tbusiness and philanthropy. The awards are designed to highlight the success and con- tributions of 27,000 plus alumni and friends in the Greater TEREFENKO PAUL Toronto Area (GTA), McGill’s largest alumni community outside Quebec. Toronto Maple Leafs coach and loyal McGill alumnus Mike Babcock received top honours as the recipient of the Distinguished Leader Award, capping an event featuring emcee Bob Babinski, words of welcome from McGill Chancellor Michael WINNING TEAM Meighen, BA’60, LLD’12, a video greeting from Principal Fortier, 2018 McGill Toronto Excellence Award recipients. From left: and touching acceptance speeches from recipients. Mike Babcock, Lilia Koleva, Marcel Desautels, Kendra Alexia Hefti and Lawrence Bloomberg.

LEADERS ALLIANCE 2018

cGill welcomed more than 200 of its volunteer leaders from Montreal, Canada and around the world for the University’s first-ever Leaders Alliance on May 4-5. The volunteer summit was held in the innovative Espace C2 in the newly LEADERSHIP LESSONS Mrenovated Queen Elizabeth Hotel and featured an impressive Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, roster of guest speakers, including former Canadian prime LLD’17, told the crowd the long game is minister Brian Mulroney, Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai, more important that the short-term. “We Dominic Barton of McKinsey & Company, author and business need to look to the next generations, not strategy expert Charlene Li, and more. Participants networked the next elections. It can frequently take with fellow volunteers and heard Principal Fortier outline a vision decades before the full consequences of for McGill that emphasizes future-ready students as it approaches an important initiative become apparent.” its 200th anniversary. Photos by Jimmy Hamelin

THE FUTURE OF HIGHER ED Dean of Arts Antonia Maioni moderated a panel discussion with university leaders—and McGill alumni—including University of British Columbia president Santa Ono, PhD’91, Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, BSc’80, DSc’11, and Principal Fortier, who shared their ideas on the future of higher education.

M C GILL NEWS / 44 / SUMMER 2018 THE GIFT OF A LIFETIME

HELPING STUDENTS FIND THEIR WAY

arly in her career, Christine Lengvari, DPA’78, faced what Lengvari is vocal about the good SCS is doing for new Montrealers. Eshe calls “a time of hesitancy.” Having completed her degree “The School off ers great opportunities to refugees,” she says, in psychology, she wanted to follow a diff erent path: “I wanted “because they o en need to requalify, or change their qualifi cations, to get into business,” she recalls, “but I wasn’t quite sure how.” in order to fi nd work.” That benefi t hits close to home: like many Part of the answer came from McGill’s diploma program in people displaced by war, Lengvari’s parents had to rebuild their Public Accounting, off ered through what is now the School lives a er fl eeing Hungary. of Continuing Studies (SCS).

It’s clear she chose well. From studying fi nancial accounting I think once people realize in the Redpath Library, Lengvari went on to teach the subject what they can accomplish, at McGill’s Faculty of Management. Today, she is President and CEO of Lengvari Financial, and an expert on retirement their minds open up to and estate planning. that possibility. And then, Lengvari was an active volunteer during Campaign McGill, they get excited. and as an SCS advisory board member has been instrumental in building fundraising at the School. As a fi nancial advisor, Lengvari fi nds that planned giving is a Now, she is giving back in a new way, by making a bequest to natural extension. Most people are familiar with the benefi ts of life Career Advising and Transition Services (CATS) at SCS. “I know insurance, she says, but to many, the philanthropic side of estate how diffi cult it is to wonder, How do I make this change?” she planning is more obscure. explains. “I think we all need a helping hand, as well as guidance Notably, says Lengvari, “People are surprised at how easily it can and encouragement.” be done, and that they can create a meaningful legacy without The CATS program, which runs largely on private funding, gives depriving their heirs.” A rewarding part of any fi nancial advisor’s vital support to students, including professionals changing careers, job is opening that door, and showing clients how personal as well as newcomers fi nding their way. Through individual planning can achieve social good. advising and coaching, networking events, and guidance about “I think once people realize what they can accomplish, their minds working in Quebec, CATS gives users the chance to clarify their open up to that possibility,” she says. “And then, they get excited.” objectives and plan for success.

Bequests and 1430 Peel St., Montreal, QC, H3A 3T3, Canada Toll Free 1-800-567-5175 T. 514-398-3560 Planned Gis mcgill.ca/planned-giving plannedgi [email protected] Back to Beer … and Hockey At the Centre of Government Putting Trials on Trial The Story of Eric Molson The Prime Minister and the Sexual Assault and the Failure Helen Antoniou Limits on Political Power of the Legal Profession Cloth, 456pp Ian Brodie Elaine Craig French language edition is available: Cloth, 224pp Cloth, 328pp Le retour à la bière… et au hockey: L’histoire “Using valuable personal experience as a “[This] rigorous and damning indictment of the justice d’Eric Molson touchstone, At the Centre of Government and legal systems’ handling of sexual-assault cases in “A staggeringly candid, page-turner peek inspires readers to think more deeply and Canada was finished before the #MeToo and #TimesUp into one of the most powerful families in clearly about democracy and its relation- movements seized national headlines. But it is arguably this country: the Molson clan of beer and ship to liberalism, constitutionalism, now more relevant than ever. For actors in and outside hockey barons.The book provides rare and good public policy.” the legal profession, there is no shortage of answers in insight into family infighting and serves –Thomas Bateman, St.Thomas University Craig’s excoriating study.This book will undoubtedly up a compelling cautionary tale about generate controversy as it delivers a verdict upon the corporate governance.” –Montreal Gazette Canadian legal system: guilty.” –The Globe & Mail New from MQUP

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McG I L L-QU E E N ’S U N IVE R SITY P R E SS mqup.ca Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @McGillQueensUP ALUMNI PROFILE

CELEBRATING THE DIVERSITY OF INDIGENOUS MUSIC

hen people think of music by Indigenous artists, there’s a pervasive image that

endures and it’s one that JARRETT BISTONATH ALYSSA MARTINEAU, BA’06, is determined to blow up: “powwow music.” Aside from his contributions to RPM, Martineau has also “It’s not all hand-drums,” Martineau become a familiar figure in Canadian broadcasting. He was a Wsays. “The calibre of music coming out of our community is the co-host for CBC’s innovative cross-platform TV series ZeD equal of anything in any other community. The creativity is and a producer/host for the late night CBC Radio alternative boundless.” music program Brave New Waves. He also produced the TV As the co-founder and creative producer for RPM (Rev- series Rise for Viceland, which looked at how Indigenous olutions Per Minute) Records, a Toronto-based indie label communities were working to protect their homelands. and music platform dedicated to showcasing Indigenous Martineau now hosts Reclaimed a CBC Radio series that music in all its diverse forms, Martineau is a key player at a spotlights the diversity of contemporary Indigenous music. He time when Indigenous artists are attracting more attention says the show “was an indirect outgrowth of RPM. I had spoken than ever before. to [CBC], they were looking to bring in more diverse acts.” The zeitgeist is on his side. As made plain in the recent Even a cursory look at the Indigenous artists on RPM and rockumentary Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, beyond reveals a remarkable range: the spectral electronica First Nations artists have been involved in the music scene of Ziibiwan, the Indigenous hip hop group A Tribe Called Red, since long before Link Wray (a Shawnee) invented the power protest singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza, neo-soul man David chord. “We want to fortify and amplify the voices coming from Morin, the edgy beats of Exquisite Ghost, the opera/Wolastoq our community,” Martineau says. fusion of classically-trained Jeremy Dutcher, the countrifi ed A member of Frog Lake First Nation, a Cree and Dene folk of Logan Staats. community in Alberta (pop. 2,500), Martineau studied English Martineau does not want RPM to limit itself to presenting literature and Canadian studies at McGill. “At the time, First Nations artists to a self-curated audience of Indigenous [Canadian studies] was the only real discipline at McGill that music fans. He wants to promote a cross-pollination of genres even had any Indigenous content,” he says. and audiences. He was working on a PhD in Indigenous governance at the Late last year, RPM was one of the driving forces behind New University of Victoria when the idea for RPM began to form. Constellations, a 13-city tour that saw major Indigenous artists He had been talking to documentary fi lmmakers working on a like A Tribe Called Red, Mob Bounce, Jeremy Dutcher, Elisapie feature about Six Nations blues musician Derek Miller. “He’d and Leonard Sumner, sharing the bill with mainstream stars run into a glass ceiling,” Martineau says of Miller. “He was Feist, Sam Roberts, BA’98, Stars, July Talk and Jason Collett. able to reach his own community, but not break through to a The tour also involved workshops on songwriting, music larger audience.” creation and DJ/production skills at six of the stops, including Martineau acknowledges that RPM isn’t the fi rst-ever label two Indigenous communities, and a mentorship program for devoted to Indigenous music per se— that honour likely belongs Indigenous youth that involved such artists as Polaris Music to Canyon Records in Phoenix, Arizona. Still, he believes RPM Prize winner Lido Pimienta, Cree/Dene musician IsKwé, and is unique. “In terms of the focus on experimentation and cross- singer/songwriter Jasmyn Burke (Weaves). genre music, I think we’re on our own.” “Having all those artists on the same bill—that’s already a

< shift,” says Martineau. “Given geography and cultural gaps, a lot of Native people might not ever see Sam [Roberts], and a lot Jarret Martineau is the host of CBC Radio’s of his audience might never see a Native artist.” Reclaimed Mark Lepage, BA’86

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ALUMNI ALUMNOTES

AGRICULTURAL & DAVID MCROBIE, BSc(Arch)’72, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES BArch’74, was made a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada CHARLES VINCENT, MSc’80, at its College of Fellows Convocation PhD’83, was selected as an Honorary last May. The honour recognizes Member of the Entomological Society of his outstanding contributions to the France, the oldest entomological society profession in Canada and elsewhere. in the world. The society bestows the David is the founder and president title upon entomologists from France of McRobie Architects + Interior and elsewhere in recognition of import- Designers, an award-winning practice ant contributions to the discipline. The based in Ottawa. number of honorary members cannot exceed 20 (12 French and eight foreign) ROBERT MELLIN, MArch’84, an and currently stands at eight. associate professor of architecture, received a Lieutenant Governor’s award SARAH BOOTH, BSc’81, PhD’92, is the for his design of a private residence in new director of the Jean Mayer USDA Middle Arm, Newfoundland. The award Human Nutrition Center for Research recognizes the important role played by on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University. architects and architecture in building ANNE CORMIER, BSc(Arch)’81, It is the largest nutrition centre focused communities across the province. He BArch’82, was the 2017 recipient of on aging in the U.S. and one of only was also recently named to the Order the Margolese National Design for six human nutrition research centres of Newfoundland and Labrador for the Living Prize. She is the co-founder of supported by the USDA’s Agricultural dedication he has shown to the architec- the award-winning Montreal-based Research Service. In addition to her ture of the province. firm Atelier Big City. The Margolese role as director, she will continue to Prize is awarded annually to a serve as senior scientist and director ROMAN HALITZKI, BSc(Arch)’74, Canadian who has made and of the HNRCA’s Vitamin K Laboratory. BArch’75, was appointed in January to a continues to make outstanding A professor at the Friedman School three-year term on the Committee for the contributions to the development of Nutrition Science and Policy, she Examination for Architects in Canada, or improvement of living previously served as HNRCA’s associate to represent the four Atlantic provinces’ environments for Canadians of all director and interim director. architectural licensing authorities. Since 1986, he has operated the independent economic classes. The projects ARCHITECTURE practice Roman Halitzki Architecture she has worked on with her Atelier Big City colleagues include the LOUIS J. LAPIERRE (B. Arch. 1952) and Design in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Cultural appartient à la première génération off ering planning, design and manage- Centre and the Unity 2 housing d’architectes formés au sein d’une école ment services, to private and public sector development in downtown Montreal. d’architecture totalement modernisée. clients. He was recently awarded Life Il fut un précurseur en matière Membership in the Royal Architectural d’intégration de l’art à l’architecture. Institute of Canada. ARTS Son cheminement professionnel est BASIL SCHABAN-MAURER, PhD’13, SHEILA KUSSNER, BA’53, LLD’90, le sujet d’un nouveau livre intitulé was interviewed for a feature article in was appointed Commander of the Order L’Architecture dans une vie. La première Voyage Dallas magazine for his role in of Montreal, the highest rank of the partie de cet ouvrage fait le survol du the formation of the citizen-centered Order, at a ceremony at City Hall on parcours de Louis J. Lapierre et décrit architecture movement of the early May 17, 2017. She is the founder and sa personnalité empreinte de pragma- millennium. His fi rm, ARK Tectonics, past chair of Hope & Cope, a one-stop, tisme, d’indépendance d’esprit et de is one of the growing number of fi rms, volunteer-based, professionally curiosité. La seconde partie du livre organizations and NGOs around the managed cancer resource centre at the est une analyse inédite de huit œuvres world practicing socially-responsible Jewish General Hospital. choisies parmi ses réalisations. architecture and planning, also known as public interest design. He is the director of the Urban Science Institute and a principal with ARK Tectonics, which operates in Canada and the United States.

M C GILL NEWS / 49 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNOTES

FRANKLIN TOKER, BA’64, has DARLENE KRUESEL HYDE, BA’69, received the title of Distinguished became the new chief executive offi cer Professor of Art History, Architecture of the British Columbia Real Estate EGAN OWEN and Archaeology at the University of Association (BCREA) in January. The Pittsburgh. U of P chancellor Patrick organization represents the province’s Gallagher described the distinguished 23,000 realtors. She has more than 30 professor appointment as “the highest years of experience in business, having honor that the university can accord held senior positions in the telecom- a member of the professorship,” munications, energy, and insurance adding that it recognizes “extraordinary, industry sectors. She also has extensive internationally recognized scholarly governance and regulatory experience, attainment.” Franklin teaches the having served on a number of boards history of cities and the history of in the fi nancial services sector, as well medieval and American architecture, as regulatory authorities for insurance and his books include the award-winning professionals and motor vehicle dealers. Church of Notre-Dame in Montréal. GUY SPRUNG, BA’70, directed a production of Conversions, which ELSBETH HEAMAN, BA’88, MA’90, ran at Espace Knox in Montreal in is the interim director of the McGill February. The artistic director at Institute for the Study of Canada

OWEN EGAN OWEN Montreal’s Infi nithéâtre, he also created and an associate professor of Dream In High Park, Toronto’s annual history. Her book Tax, Order, free outdoor Shakespeare festival, and and Good Government: A New was the co-founder of the Canadian Political History, 1867-1917 recently Stage Company, which is now the earned two major prizes — the 2018 largest not-for-profi t contemporary Canada Prize (English) from the theatre company in Canada. Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Canadian KEITH HARRISON, PhD’72, a novelist Historical Association’s Macdonald who lives on Hornby Island, B.C., Prize (also known as the Governor has just had his ninth book published. General’s History Award for The new book is a scholarly work Scholarly Research). The jury for titled Shakespeare, Bakhtin, and Film: the Canada Prize described the A Dialogic Lens (Springer). The book as “a path-breaking history book explores how the writings of of Canadian taxation from Confed- Mikhail Bakhtin can be used to explore eration up until the introduction how fi lmmakers from a variety of ISABELLE DAUNAIS, BA’86, of the progressive income tax.” backgrounds continue to be drawn to MA’88, PhD’92, a professor in Shakespeare—updating, translating, McGill’s Département de langue et transposing, fragmenting, parodying, littérature françaises, received SHELDON GOLDFARB, BA’75, is the and geographically re-situating the the 2017 Acfas André-Laurendeau author of The Hundred-Year Trek: A Bard’s work. prize in the humanities last fall History of Student Life at UBC (Heritage at the annual gala of Association NANCY NEAMTAN, BA’72, was named House Publishing). Featuring more than francophone pour le savoir (Acfas). a Member of the Order of Canada in late 200 photographs and illustrations from The citation from Acfas credited her December for “her devotion to social the University of British Columbia’s with putting forward “new ways of and economic advocacy in Quebec.” student archives, the book chronicles approaching the study of literature” She is the president and executive the history of student life at UBC, from and sparking “a real revolution” director of the Chantier de l’économie its founding in 1915 to its recent centen- in the way we study and read novels. sociale, a non-profi t organization that nial. He is the archivist of UBC’s Alma promotes the development of collective Mater Society. entrepreneurship.

M C GILL NEWS / 50 / SUMMER 2018 JUDY ILLES, MA’83, was appointed to the Order of Canada as a new Member for her “contributions to the fi eld of neurology, including pioneering HOLLINGER HEIDI research that has highlighted the ethical, social and legal implications of advances in neuroscience.” She is a professor of neurology at the University of British Columbia, UBC’s Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics and the director of Neuroethics Canada at UBC. DANIEL A. BELL, BA’85, is the dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and a professor at Tsinghua University. He was the 2017 recipient of the Huilin Prize, which recognizes HEIDI HOLLINGER, BA’90, is a Montreal-based photographer, scholars who have made outstand- writer and TV host. Her portraits of world leaders, including Fidel ing contributions in communicating Castro, Vladimir Putin and the Dalai Lama, have been exhibited Chinese culture to the rest of the world. around the world. Her new book, 300 Reasons to Love Havana, Daniel’s most recent book was The explores the unique charms and distinctive neighbourhoods China Model: Political Meritocracy and of the Cuban capital, a marvel of Spanish colonial, art deco and the Limits of Democracy. modern architecture. ANDREW C. HOLMAN, BA’86, is a Canadian sport historian and the ADAM DODEK, BA’92, is the editor of debate, and memories about the co-editor of The Same But Diff erent: The Charter Debates: The Special Joint nation’s violent recent pasts and its Hockey in Quebec (McGill-University Committee on the Constitution, 1980-81 part in it. She is also the editor of Queen’s Press), a book that examines and the Making of the Canadian Charter Art from a Fractured Past: Memory how hockey has become a lightning of Rights and Freedoms (University of and Truth-telling in Post-Shining Path rod for discussions about Québécois Toronto Press). The book tells the story Peru, and the co-editor of The Art of identity. He is also the editor of of the Special Joint Committee of the Truth-Telling about Authoritarian Rule Canada’s Game: Hockey and Identity Senate and the House of Commons on and Curating Diffi cult Knowledge: and the author of A Sense of Duty: the Constitution, whose members were Violent Pasts in Public Places. She is Middle-Class Formation in Victorian instrumental in drafting the Charter. the Canada Research Chair in Latin Ontario Towns. He is the director of Adam is the dean of the University American History at the Université the Canadian Studies Program at of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (Common de Montréal. Bridgewater State University where Law Section). he is also a professor of history. ANDREA CURTIS, BA’93, is the author CYNTHIA E. MILTON, BA’92, is the of two recent books for young people. IAN BRODIE, BA’90, is the author of author of Confl icted Memory: Military Big Water is a YA novel inspired by the At the Centre of Government: The Prime Cultural Interventions and the Human teenage survivors of a tragic shipwreck Minister and the Limits on Political Rights Era in Peru (University of on the Great Lakes, while Eat This! How Power (McGill-Queen’s University Wisconsin Press). The book examines Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Press). The book off ers a fi rst-hand view how Peru’s military has engaged in a Junk (And How to Fight Back) is a media of the inner workings of the Canadian tactical cultural campaign—via books, literacy and food literacy book for young federal government and challenges fi lms, museums—to shift public opinion, people between the ages of 9 and 12. the notion that the power of a prime For more information, visit andreacur- minister is virtually unchecked in the tiskids.ca. Canadian parliamentary system. He is an associate professor of political science at the University of Calgary, and was once the chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

M C GILL NEWS / 51 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNOTES

WIN BUTLER, BA’04 (right), and his band Arcade Fire received the 2018 Juno International Achievement Award. The prize recognizes Canadian artists who have achieved exemplary success on a global DARRYL DARRYL / CANADIAN DYCK PRESS scale and previous winners include Bryan Adams, Céline Dion, Shania Twain and Drake. The band also received the Juno Award for Album of the Year for Everything Now.

DAVID SHAW, BA’93, has joined Dale CURTIS COLLINS, PhD’02, is the MIA BUTERA, BA’08, has joined & Lessmann LLP as a partner in its cor- new director of the Audain Art Museum Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP, the porate commercial group. His practice in Whistler, B.C. He has worked as a largest law fi rm in the East Bay of focuses on mergers and acquisitions, director-curator at a number of California, as an associate in its Business franchising and distribution arrange- cultural institutions across the country, Practice Group. She previously worked ments, international and domestic joint including the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for the Rogoway Law Group, and was ventures, and reorganizations. He had in Fredericton and the Art Gallery of the a contract attorney for Stripe. She was been practicing as a corporate lawyer South Okanagan in Penticton. He has the fi rst in-house attorney for Instacart, at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP for 17 also served as an instructor in art history overseeing all legal matters, including years. He lives with his wife Rochelle and curatorial studies at First Nations commercial partnership agreements, and their two children Megan (15) and University of Canada, the University of wage and hour compliance and litigation Benjamin (13). Lethbridge, Trent University, and was oversight. She also worked as a deal recently the director of the Yukon School specialist for Oracle, drafting contracts WENDY WOLFORD, BA’94, is the new of Visual Arts. and counselling business teams on vice provost for international aff airs high-value commercial agreements. at Cornell University. As vice provost, JONATHAN R. PAVLICH, BA’03, was she now oversees Cornell’s Offi ce of recently named a partner at Akin Gump Global Learning, the Mario Einaudi Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, an interna- Center for International Studies and the tional law fi rm with offi ces throughout Cornell China Center in Beijing, which the United States, including New York. is scheduled to open next spring. She is He is a member of the fi rm’s tax practice, the Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor which represents clients in a variety of of Global Development at Cornell’s domestic and international corporate Department of Development Sociology transactions, including mergers and in the College of Agriculture and Life acquisitions, private equity and hedge Sciences and was the co-leader of a fund investments, joint ventures and three-year theme project on contested strategic alliances, and corporate restruc- global landscapes at Cornell’s Institute turings. He also advises on corporate for the Social Sciences. governance and general corporate matters. SHAUN REIN, BA’00, is the author MIRELLA CHRISTOU, BA’05, received of The War for China’s Wallet: Profi ting the $10,000 Alfred P. Sloan Prize in KELLY NOBES, BEd’97, MA’01, the from the New World Order. The book Writing for Seven Eternities, a script that coach of the McGill Redmen hockey examines China’s recent economic focuses on the early days of psychedelic team, received the Father George rise, its political ambitions and its research at Harvard University by Kehoe Memorial Award as coach of willingness to use economic measures Timothy Leary and his partner Richard the year in Canadian men’s univer- to reward or punish corporations Alpert. The script was also shortlisted for sity hockey. A one-time Redmen and other countries. Shaun is the a Writers Guild of America East fellow- player, he guided the team to a managing director of China Market ship. Another of her scripts, Lady Electric, division-leading 22-4-2 record and Research Group. made the Canadian Film Fest 2018 led the Redmen to their fifth trip to “It List” of the best unproduced scripts the national championships in his in Canada. eight seasons as McGill’s coach.

M C GILL NEWS / 52 / SUMMER 2018 AQUIL VIRANI, BA’12, was awarded also coached the Detroit Red Wings to a highest order of merit in France. The the Prix Artiste Pour La Paix 2018 by Stanley Cup win in 2008. He currently founding chairman of the Munasinghe the Quebec-based arts collective Les coaches the Toronto Maple Leafs. Institute for Development and the Artistes Pour La Paix. Aquil is a self- vice-chair of the Intergovernmental FRANK RODICK, MEd’88, is a taught visual artist whose client list Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which Canadian photographic artist whose includes Maybelline, Shoppers Drug was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace work has been shown in more than 80 Mart and Just for Laughs. Much of his Prize in 2007, he was recognized for his exhibitions across fi ve continents. His recent work focuses on social issues, work on sustainable development and new series, untitled selves, was recently using a collaborative and interactive climate change and for promoting ties exhibited at Ryerson University’s approach. His work has been featured in between Sri Lanka and France. School of Image Arts. Evolving from La Presse, The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir earlier self-portraits and the portraits of LAW and on CBC, CTV and NPR. his parents, the work represents another ARMAND DE MESTRAL, BCL’66, a stage of his engagement with memory DENTISTRY professor emeritus of law at McGill, and and mortality. To fi nd out more, visit SOPHIE NAPPERT, BCL’86, LLB’86, ERICA KADER, BSc’10, DMD’14, is a frankrodick.com. orthodontist and owner at Beaconsfi eld an arbitrator in independent practice Orthodontist and a Fellow of the Royal RICHARD D. PARKER, GradCert- in Britain, were both appointed to the College of Dentistry Canada. In her EdLeadership’12, recently published North American Free Trade Agreement graduation year from the Faculty of Leadership Lessons from Monty Python (NAFTA) Chapter 19 Roster for Canada. Dentistry, she received the A.W. Thornton and the Holy Grail (Booknology). Chapter 19 of NAFTA, the trilateral Gold Medal for highest standing in her It is available at both Amazon and free-trade agreement between class, the Aldis Bernard Prize from Barnes & Noble. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, deals with the Ordre des Dentistes du Québec for complaints by state parties concerning ENGINEERING academic excellence, and the American anti-dumping and countervailing duties Association of Orthodontists Award. MOHAN MUNASINGHE, PhD’73, was imposed on goods crossing borders. made an Offi cer of the National Order of Two other McGill law professors will EDUCATION the Legion of Honour last fall. It is the be involved in the Chapter 19 process. SALLY ARMSTRONG, BEd’66, DLitt’02, was promoted to Offi cer of the Order of Canada for “her contributions as a journalist and fi lmmaker highlight- ing human rights and the struggles of women in the world’s confl ict zones.” She is a three-time winner of the Amnesty

International Canada media award. PHOTO AP / FRANK FRANKLIN II JOHN LORD, BEd’64, was appointed to the Order of Canada as a new Member for “his commitment to supporting Canadians with disabilities through research, public policy and advocacy.” He was a founder and the fi rst director of the Centre for Community Based MÉLODIE DAOUST, BEd’17, (top) was named the MVP in Research, and is the founding partner women’s hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. of the Facilitation Leadership Group. She led the Canadian team with three goals and four assists during the Olympic tournament. She and her teammates earned MIKE BABCOCK, BEd’86, LLD’13, a silver medal at the Games, after losing the gold medal match was selected as a 2018 Distinguished to the United States. She was part of the gold medal-winning Honouree of the Order of Hockey in Canadian squad at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Canada. As a coach, he has led Canadian teams to two gold medals at the Olympic Games, a gold medal at the IIHF World Championship, and a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship. He

M C GILL NEWS / 53 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNOTES

MICHAEL GOLDBLOOM, BCL’78, LLB’79, is the new chair of the board of directors for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada. The principal and vice-chancellor of Bishop’s University, he began his career as a journalist at The Montreal Gazette. After working as a lawyer in private practice and then as president and CEO of the Montreal YMCA, he returned to The Montreal Gazette as its publisher, from 1994 to 2001. He also served as publisher of the Toronto Star from 2004 to 2006. He co-chairs the board of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. BISHOP’S UNIVERSITY BISHOP’S

Professor Fabien Gélinas will serve on services for several Canadian federal DAVID E. PLATTS, BCL’90, LLB’90, the Roster for Canada, while Professor agencies and universities, and for the was appointed a judge of the Superior Andrea Bjorklund is on the Chapter 19 Massachusetts state government. She Court of Quebec for the district of Roster for the United States. has published on ethics compliance Montreal. He had been a partner with and fi duciary relationships in numer- the fi rm McCarthy Tétrault, where his MARCEL STRIGBERGER, BA’68, ous journals, including the Journal of practice involved intellectual property, LLB’72, is a former litigation lawyer Medical Ethics, and the Hastings Center civil and commercial litigation, and pro- who now writes humour. His new book Report. The fi rst body of its kind in fessional liability and disciplinary law. Poutine on the Orient Express: Vermont, the commission, created last An Irreverent Look at Travel off ers a FRED PURKEY, BCL’96, LLB’96, year, reviews cases of alleged unethical comical exploration of everything from recently joined McCarthy Tétreault in behaviour by politicians and candidates old European cathedrals to luggage Montreal, practicing in tax law with a in the state. packing to all-you-can-eat buff ets. focus on mergers and acquisitions, Marcel worked his way through law SANDRA NISHIKAWA, BCL’79, after 17 years with Davies Ward Phillips school as a professional sightseeing LLB’79, was appointed a judge of the & Vineberg. He is married to MIRELLA tour guide in Montreal before hitting Superior Court of Justice of Ontario SULIMOWICZ, CertMgmt’91, the circuit as a stand-up comedian in in Toronto. Over the course of her CertAcc’92, BCom’92, DPA’93, GradDip- Toronto, sharing the stage with the career, she has served as counsel at the Tax’06, formerly of Ernst & Young, now likes of Howie Mandel, Bob Saget and Ontario Human Rights Commission tax director at Fiera Capital. They have Jim Carrey. and practiced civil litigation for both two children and live in Montreal. the Department of Justice Canada, and THOMAS MULCAIR, BCL’76, LLB’77, the Ministry of the Attorney General MANAGEMENT is a visiting professor with the Uni- of Ontario. She has chaired the Equity WILLIAM SHATNER, BCom’52, versité de Montréal’s Department of Advisory Group of the Law Society DLitt’11, was appointed to the Order of Political Science. He is teaching mainly of Ontario. Canada as a new Offi cer for “his iconic in U de M’s new master’s program in contributions to popular culture span- environment and sustainable devel- FRANÇOIS CRÉPEAU, BCL’82, ning theater, television and fi lm, and opment. In January, he was named LLB’82, was appointed to the Order for his philanthropic support of causes chairman of the board for Jour de La of Canada as a new Member for “his related to health care, the environment Terre Québec (Québec Earth Day). He research and contributions to interna- and the well-being of children.” He has was the leader of the New Democratic tional law and for his eff orts to promote won two Emmy Awards over the course Party from 2012 to 2017 and served as civil rights, particularly with respect of an acting career that has ranged from leader of the Offi cial Opposition in the to refugees.” He is the Hans and Tamar Stratford to Star Trek, and is the driving House of Commons from 2012 to 2015. Oppenheimer Chair in Public Interna- force behind the Hollywood Charity tional Law at McGill and the director MADELINE M. MOTTA, MSW’77, Horse Show, which raises money for of McGill’s Centre for Human Rights DCL’10, is the chair of the Vermont children’s charities. and Legal Pluralism. He was the United State Ethics Commission. A corporate Nations Special Rapporteur on the and government ethics compliance Human Rights of Migrants from 2011 consultant, she has provided compliance to 2017.

M C GILL NEWS / 54 / SUMMER 2018 ROBIN BEHAR, BCom’67, took part BRIAN FETHERSTONHAUGH, MEDICINE in an interview for the Sephardi Voices BCom’79, recently travelled to China SEYMOUR BROWNSTEIN, BSc’61, Project, a collaboration between Tel and Taiwan to launch the Chinese MDCM’65, was the 2017 recipient of the Aviv University and Sephardi Voices, version of his book The Long View: Lifetime Achievement Award from the which is recording and preserving the Career Strategies to Start Strong, Reach Canadian Ophthalmological Society. oral histories of Sephardic Jews who High, and Go Far. The trip included a Recipients of the prize have made a fl ed their homes in North Africa, the presentation to 500 people in Hangzhou sustained impact nationally and inter- Middle East, and Iran as refugees. In at the headquarters of Alibaba, “the nationally on the growth of the his interview, Robin recounted the Amazon of China.” He is the CEO and profession and have maintained the bittersweet experiences of his family chairman of OgilvyOne Worldwide. highest standard of patient care in in Egypt. The interview, titled “Robin DIANA DUTTON, DipManagement’88, their practice. He also received the Behar’s Egypt—1946 - 1959—Smiles & MBA’89, began a fi ve-year term as Zimmerman Medal for outstanding Sadness,” is available on YouTube. McGill’s new associate vice-principal, contributions to ophthalmic pathology human resources, on March 26. She had during the annual meeting of the been in the position on an interim basis American Academy of Ophthalmology since August 1, 2017. Over the course of last fall, and presented the annual her career at McGill, she has also been Zimmerman Lecture—the fi rst the executive assistant to the dean of Canadian to be selected for that management, the director of academic honour. He is the Les Amis Chair in personnel in the Offi ce of the Provost, Vision Research at the University of and senior director of human resources. Ottawa and a professor in the Depart- ments of Ophthalmology and Laboratory JILLIAN JANE SMALLENBERGER, Medicine (Pathology) there. He is also MBA’09, is the co-founder of Unit Trac, an associate clinical scientist at the a cloud-based lease management soft- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. ware that allows self-storage owners the ability to manage their facility anywhere on any device. Unit Trac was recognized by InterBusiness Issues as being one of EUR the 10 startups to watch in 2018. AT BA I G V - E T L GINA JAMORALIN, MBA’11, is the S new consul general of the Philippine

Consulate General in Chicago. She had MONTRÉAL previously served as the Philippine CHILE EBOE OSUJI, LLM’92, was consul general of Hawaii. elected by his peers to serve as the president of the International CHANTAL SOULIGNY, IMHL’14, Criminal Court (ICC) for a three- became the new director of nursing for year term. He was first elected to the McGill University Health Centre the ICC as a judge in 2011. He had on March 19. Since joining the MUHC previously served as prosecution as a staff nurse in 1983, she has held Delivery across Canada and USA counsel and senior legal officer at progressively senior administrative the International Criminal Tribunal positions in pediatric and adult for Rwanda, as senior prosecution settings, including nursing coordinator appeals counsel for the Special of respiratory services at the MUHC, Court for Sierra Leone, and as legal and associate director of nursing at the advisor to the United Nations High Montreal Children’s Hospital. Commissioner for Human Rights.

M C GILL NEWS / 55 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNOTES

PIERRE GFELLER, MDCM’80, is the new president and executive director of the McGill University Health Centre. A family physician from 1981 to 2006, he spent the past three years as the president and executive director of the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, where he oversaw the successful integration of hospitals, specialized clinics, long-term care centres and CLSCs. Prior to that, he was the executive director of the Sacré-Coeur Hospital. MUHC

GLORIA GILBERT, Dip(PTh)’66, MINDY LEVIN, BSc(PT)’76, PhD’80, ELLEN EINTERZ, BA’74, MDCM’82, BSc(PT)’67, is a longtime physiothera- was the 2017 recipient of the Jonas received the 2018 Esther Pohl Lovejoy pist who no longer treats patients. She Salk Award from the March of Dimes Award from the American Medical recently launched a website and e-book Canada. A professor of physical and Women’s Association in March. The on pain/symptom management called occupational therapy at McGill, she prize honours female physicians who Don’t Go to the Ouch! (dontgototheouch. was recognized for her research, which have dedicated their lives to the promo- com). She continues to be actively provides key insights on the recovery of tion of international relations through involved in national and local institu- movement in people with acquired brain improvements in international health. tions involved in pain research as well injuries. The Jonas Salk Award is pre- As a physician, she directed hospitals as in the improvement of the dialogue sented annually to a Canadian scientist, in Naka, Nigeria and Cameroon for over between health providers and people physician or researcher who has made three decades. During the 2014/2015 in pain. She and her husband JOSEPH a new and outstanding contribution in Ebola epidemic, she was medical coor- MARTIN, MDCM’65, have lived in science or medicine to prevent, alleviate dinator of an Ebola treatment unit in London, Ontario, since 1972. or eliminate a physical disability. Liberia. She is now a clinic physician for the Marion County Public Health MARTHA CRAGO, BA’68, MSc(A)’70, NANCY MAYO, MSc(A)’78, PhD’86, Department’s refugee program in PhD’88, was appointed to the Order of was the 2017 recipient of the Presi- Indianapolis and maintains an adjunct Canada as a Member for “her contri- dent’s Award from the International affi liation with the Indiana University butions to research and innovation in Society of Quality of Life (ISOQOL). School of Medicine and Fairbanks Canada, notably in the area of ocean The award is presented annually School of Public Health. She is also the science.” She is McGill’s vice-principal to an individual who has advanced author of Life and Death in Kolofata: (research and innovation) and has held health related quality of life (HRQOL) An American Doctor in Africa (Indiana senior positions at other universities, research and has made outstanding University Press). most recently as the vice-president contributions to the society. (research) at Dalhousie University. A James McGill Professor in McGill’s MIRIAM BOILLAT, MDCM’83, She served as a member on the expert Department of Medicine (Division received the 2017 Ian McWhinney panel on Canada’s Fundamental of Geriatrics and Division of Clinical Family Medicine Education Award from Science Review. Epidemiology) and at the School of the College of Family Physicians Canada. Physical and Occupational Therapy, she An associate professor of family med- BERNARD ROBAIRE, PhD’74, was recognized for her contributions to icine at McGill, she was the director of received the Canadian Society of the training, education and mentoring the family medicine residency program Toxicology’s Gabriel L. Plaa Award of future HRQOL researchers, for close to 10 years. She also played a of Distinction at the society’s annual for advancing methods for HRQOL key role in establishing a new Master of symposium in Montreal last fall. The measurement and research, and for Science degree in experimental medicine prize recognizes individuals who have her role as editor of the Dictionary of (family medicine option) at McGill, the made outstanding and sustained con- Quality of Life and Health Outcomes fi rst program of its kind in Canada. The tributions to the science of toxicology Measurement (2015). award honours excellence in family in Canada. The founding director of medicine education and is presented to McGill’s Centre for the Study of Repro- a teacher of family medicine deemed by duction, he is a James McGill Professor their peers to have made a unique and in the Departments of Pharmacology innovative contribution that signifi - and Therapeutics, and Obstetrics and cantly impacts the development of Gynecology. family medicine education in Canada.

M C GILL NEWS / 56 / SUMMER 2018 cardiovascular diseases, she is a James MOSHE BEN-SHOSHAN, MSc’11, McGill Professor in the Department of received the 2017 F. Estelle R. Simons Medicine at McGill and a researcher Award for Research from the Canadian at the Research Institute of the McGill Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology University Health Centre. The new BIH (CSACI). The award is presented to a prize recognizes research excellence CSACI member in recognition of his or and hopes to bring more visibility to her exemplary research in the fi eld of sex and gender issues in translational allergy, asthma, and immunology. He is an research. assistant professor (clinical) of pediatrics at McGill and an associate member KATHERINE O’BRIEN, MDCM’88, is of the Department of Epidemiology, CHERYL ROCKMAN-GREENBERG, joining Dalhousie University in Decem- Biostatistics and Occupational Health. BSc’72, MDCM’74, was inducted into ber as its Canada 150 Research Chair the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. in Vaccinology and Global Health. She MUSIC Her research has focused on the is a professor of international health TARAS KULISH, BMus’95, recently identification of the molecular basis and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins returned to the McGill Chamber Orchestra of genetic disorders overrepresented Bloomberg School of Public Health. The as its executive director. He previously in unique populations, including Canada Research Chairs Program was led the MCO from 2013 to 2016 when Mennonite and Indigenous commu- created in celebration of Canada’s 150th he left Montreal to take on the role of nities. She has developed targeted anniversary and was designed to attract director of artistic operations for Calgary screening programs for Manitoba some of the world’s most talented Opera. He became interim artistic populations at risk for rare condi- researchers and scholars, including director for the opera in his second year tions — CPT-1 deficiency, for instance, Canadian expatriates, to Canada. a disorder that is overrepresented with the company. in Hutterite communities and one MICHAEL GARDAM, BSc’87, MSc’89, that requires early intervention. MDCM’92, MedResident’99, became She is a Distinguished Professor at the new chief of staff at Humber River the University of Manitoba. Hospital in January. An associate From professor of medicine at the University $ of Toronto, he was the medical director 29 of infection prevention and control at per pers./ HELMUT ZARBL, BSc’78, PhD’83, is per night the new director of the Environmen- the University Health Network. As a tal & Occupational Health Sciences medical consultant, he has worked with Institute at Rutgers University. He is a number of international organizations also the chair of the Environmental & including the World Health Organiza- Occupational Health Department of tion and the Centers for Disease Control Rutger’s School of Public Health. The and Prevention. author of more than 80 research papers MÉLANIE MONDOU, MDCM’04, is and book chapters, his research is the new assistant dean (undergraduate focused on understanding the molecular, medical education) at McGill’s Faculty genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of Medicine. An assistant professor that contribute to toxicity, mutagenesis, of medicine, she will assist in the carcinogenesis, genetic susceptibility, development and implementation of FOR RENT genomics and chemoprevention. the undergraduate medical education 14 HOUSESFOR AT THE BASE RENT OF MONT-SAINTE-ANNE 15 HOUSES AT THE BASE OF MONT-SAINTE-ANNE LOUISE PILOTE, MDCM’85, was the program, and will help create policies co-recipient of the inaugural Berlin and procedures aimed at ensuring the 30 MINUTESGROUPS FROM OF DOWNTOWN 8 TO 80 PEOPLE QUEBEC CITY quality of MDCM students’ educational Institute of Health Excellence Award GROUPSFROM 4 OF TO 12 32 TO BEDROOMS 80 PEOPLE for Sex and Gender Aspects in Health experience. 12, 8003, 5, 461-20307-NIGHT STAY Research. A leading expert on the WWW.CHALETSVILLAGE.CA possible eff ects of gender diff erences 1 800 461-2030 when it comes to medical issues such as WWW.CHALETSVILLAGE.CA

M C GILL NEWS / 57 / SUMMER 2018 ALUMNOTES

KEVIN PETRECCA, BSc’94, PhD’00, MDCM’02, an associ- ate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at McGill (left), and FRÉDÉRIC LEBLOND, PhD’03, an associate professor of engineering physics at Polytechnique Montréal, received the 2017 Québec Science Discovery of the Year Award for their work on a cancer-detection probe used during surger- ies to find residual cancer cells. Each year, a jury comprised of researchers and journalists selects the top 10 most impressive discoveries in Quebec for Québec Science and a public vote selects the overall winner. CAROLINE PERRON CAROLINE

BEN REMIER, BMus’00, DMus’14, a BARBARA FAY BOUDREAU, BSc’61, SAUL GOLDMAN, BSc’64, PhD ‘69, Montreal-based percussionist, recently recently published Circling Lithuania: a professor emeritus of chemistry at released his debut album Katana of A Travel Memoir, a book about a the University of Guelph, is the fi rst Choice—Music for Drumset Soloist two-week trip around Lithuania that co-author of Gas Bubble Dynamics in (Redshift Records). He has performed included visits at UNESCO heritage the Human Body (Academic Press). The with the Winnipeg Symphony, Royal sites, Vilnius’s Old Town and the Baltic book, a collaboration between physical Winnipeg Ballet, Manitoba Theatre seashore. The book also off ers thoughts scientists and a physician, provides a Centre and Thunder Bay Symphony, on the country’s history and culture. unique perspective on the treatment and was the percussionist for a recent Circling Lithuania is available at of gas bubble disease in general, and production of Sisters: The Belles Soeurs www.tinyurl.com/circ-lith. arterial gas embolism (iatrogenic and Musical at Theatre Calgary. He is a decompression-induced) in particular. member of Architek Percussion, the CALVIN S. KALMAN, BSc’65, is Chow/Reimer Duo and Want Slash the author of Successful Science and Need. Katana of Choice is available as a Engineering Teaching in College and download via Bandcamp and iTunes. Universities and Successful Science SAM KIRMAYER, BMus’16, and Engineering Teaching: Theoretical a Montreal-based jazz musician, won and Learning Perspectives. The second the 2018 Julian Award for Excellence editions of both books were recently for Emerging Canadian Artists for his published, the former by Information debut CD Opening Statement. The prize Age Publishing, and the latter by is awarded by Simon Fraser University’s Springer. He is a professor of physics at CJSF 90.1FM to a Canadian jazz artist Concordia University. or group who are beginning to establish BRENT WILLOCK, BSc’67, a clinical themselves on the Canadian jazz scene. psychologist and the past president of In 2017, CBC Music included Sam in the Toronto Institute for Contemporary their list of the “35 best Canadian Psychoanalysis, recently published The jazz musicians under 35.” Wrongful Conviction of Oscar Pistorius. MIKE DOWNES, BMus’88, won SCIENCE The book reexamines the circumstances the 2018 Juno Award for Jazz around the shooting death of Pistorius’s JOHN W. HILBORN, MSc’51, PhD’54, Album of the Year: Solo for Root girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and the was appointed to the Order of Canada as Structure. The head of bass at Paralympic star’s subsequent conviction a Member for his “innovative contribu- Humber College in Toronto, he has for her murder, arguing that the shooting tions as a physicist in the development performed with some of North might have occurred while Pistorius of Canada’s nuclear industry.” Among America’s most prominent jazz was in a state of paradoxical sleep, also his many notable achievements in the musicians, including Oliver Jones, known as parasomnia. A Kindle edition fi eld of nuclear energy was the develop- Diana Krall and Pat Metheny. He of the book is available on Amazon.ca. ment of SLOWPOKE reactors, used for had previously won a Juno Award in university research projects and for the 2014 for Traditional Jazz Album of production of radioactive tracers. the Year for Ripple Effect.

M C GILL NEWS / 58 / SUMMER 2018 DOROTHY COTTON, BSc’74, was recommendation of a selection com- MATHIEU LAVALLÉE-ADAM, appointed to the Order of Ontario, the mittee established by the Canadian BSc’08, PhD’14, was awarded the 2017 province’s highest honour. A psychol- Association of Physicists and TRIUMF, Polanyi Prize in Chemistry last fall. An ogist and mental health advocate, she one of the world’s leading subatomic assistant professor in the University of has been working with police organi- physics laboratories. Ottawa’s Department of Biochemistry, zations for more than 30 years. She Microbiology and Immunology, MARC FOGGIN, BSc’93, the founder developed the TEMPO model (Training he develops computational tools and director of Plateau Perspectives, and Education about Mental Illness for that improve our understanding of is now with the University of Cen- Police Organizations), which provides protein interactions in human cells. tral Asia, where he is acting director a blueprint for Canadian law enforce- The $20,000 prize, awarded by the of the Mountain Societies Research ment offi cers to help them interact with Government of Ontario, recognizes Institute. Plateau Perspectives is an people with mental health challenges in exceptional work done by a young international non-profi t organization the fi eld. She is an adjunct professor of researcher. that promotes community development psychology at Queen’s University. and environmental protection on the CHARLES GALE, MSc’82, PhD’86, Tibetan Plateau and in the surrounding We’re always interested in what a James McGill Professor in McGill’s mountain regions of the Himalayas and our graduates are up to. Department of Physics, was the Central Asia. A TV documentary about Please send your news to us at: 2017 recipient of the CAP-TRIUMF the organization recently aired in Hong McGill News Vogt Medal. The prize recognizes Kong. Marc has also been a consultant 1430 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 3T3 outstanding experimental or theoretical for World Wildlife Fund, Fauna and Email: [email protected] contributions to subatomic physics. Flora International and the United The submissions we receive may be Winners are chosen on the Nations Development Programme. edited and/or shortened.

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M C GILL NEWS / 59 / SUMMER 2018 IN MEMORIAM

1930s C. FRED EVERETT, BSc(Agr)’48, MILDRED MACLEAN, BHS’32, at Island View, N.B., on March 4, 2018. at London, Ont., on March 9, 2018. JOHN L. LIBERMAN, BSc’48, MSc’50, BCL’53, MARY EVELYN (PETCH) CASE, BCom’39, at Ottawa, on February 21, 2018. at Pointe-Claire, Que., on February 27, 2018. BERNARD RAUCH, DDS’48, at Victoria, B.C., on January 19, 2018. 1940s LOUIS J. BEIQUE, BSc’49, , BCom’40, DOMINIC J. VINCELLI at Midland, Texas, on January 16, 2018. at Montreal, on December 28, 2017. JOSEPHINE NANCY BIRD, BSc’49, MDCM’53, , BA’40, DLitt’92, BARBARA JANE WHITLEY at Toronto, on March 25, 2018. at Westmount, Que., on May 18, 2018. ALEX E. SCHWARTZMAN, BA’49, MA’52, PhD’61, , BA’41, MDCM’44, GEORGE LEFEBVRE at Westmount, Que., on March 19, 2018. at Huntingdon, Que., on January 2, 2018. FREDERICK A. TEES, BCom’49, BTh’73, , DipPE’42, NORMA GREGG at Westmount, Que., on May 2, 2018. at Halifax, N.S., on March 18, 2018. HARVIE WALFORD, BEng’49, , MDCM’42, EDITH (PAILET) LEVY at Vancouver, B.C., on April 26, 2018. at Montreal, on March 24, 2018. GLORIANNE WITTES, BA’49, , BSc’43, MDCM’44, GEOFFREY M. ASCAH at Boston, Mass., on March 25, 2018. at Huntsville, Ont., on January 2, 2018. RUTH KEYS, BA’43, 1950s at Ottawa, on February 7, 2018. J. DOUGLAS FLEWWELLING, BSc(PE)’50, META SURCHIN, BA’44, at Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., on February 1, 2018. at Côte-Saint-Luc, Que., on April 15, 2018. KENNETH C. HAGUE, BEng’50, ALEXANDER ARONOFF, BSc’45, MDCM’49, at Waterloo, Ont., on January 29, 2018. at Montreal, on November 29, 2017. KENNETH R. HUGHES, BCom’50, JACK HALPERN, BSc’46, PhD’49, DSc’97, in Vermont, on August 11, 2017. at Chicago, Il., on January 31, 2018. ROGER MALBOEUF, DipEd’50, MARJORIE JEAN JEFFERSON, BSc(HEc)’46, at Montreal, on December 7, 2017. at Ottawa, on February 14, 2018. ROBERT WILLIAM “BILL” NESS, BSc(Agr)’50, JOAN WINTERS, BA’46, at White Rock, B.C., on October 2, 2017. at Kelowna, B.C., on April 24, 2018. JOAN BONNETT, BSc’47, at Kentville, N.S., on January 4, 2018. GÉRALD BOURBONNIÈRE, BSc’47, MDCM’49, Born in Montreal, ISADORE ROSENFELD, at Sainte-Thérèse, Que., on March 1, 2018. BSc’47, MDCM’51, DipIntMed’56, DSc’98, NORMAN BROWMAN, BA’47, became one of the most famous physicians at Côte-Saint-Luc, Que., on January 16, 2018. in the United States. A cardiologist and a general practitioner for more than 50 years JOHN A. DAWSON, BSc(Agr)’47, at Ottawa, on February 2, 2018. (his patients included Sophia Loren and Walter Matthau), he was also the Ida and ANITA (FOCHS) HELLER, BSc’47, MSc’48, MA’70, Theo Rossi Distinguished Professor of at Montreal, on May 16, 2018. Clinical Medicine at Cornell University. EDWIN J. BROWN, MDCM’48, He was a familiar fi gure in the media, serving as the longtime at Montreal, on April 18, 2018. health editor for Parade magazine, as a frequent contributor to CBS Morning News, as the host of Sunday House Call on Fox, RICHARD H. CAMPBELL JR., MEng’48, and even in small roles in major motion pictures (A Beautiful at Cambridge, Mass., on February 20, 2018. Mind, Man on the Moon). He wrote more than a dozen best- selling books, including Modern Prevention: The Best Medicine. He died on January 30 in Greenwich, Connecticut. RICHARD TOMLINSON, PhD’48, DSc’01, will be remembered as one of the greatest philanthropists in McGill history, but he saw his role more modestly. “I don’t need all ROBERT C. THOM, BSc’53, MDCM’55, this money,” he told the Globe and at Rancho Mirage, Calif., on February 17, 2018. Mail after the announcement of J. BRUCE PEARSON, BCom’54, his landmark $64 million gift to at Orillia, Ont., on February 23, 2018. McGill in 2000. “I live a relatively DONALD C. SAVAGE, BA’54, simple life. This is what I like to do.” Bernard Shapiro, at Ottawa, on March 13, 2018. McGill’s principal at the time, saw it somewhat diff erently. “Dr. Tomlinson has single-handedly changed the DOROTHY STEELE CALDER, BSc(HEc)’54, University,” he said. It was no accident that much of the on March 21, 2018. money was directed towards doctoral fellowships and WILLIAM “BILL” G. THURMAN, MDCM’54, student aid. “It’s not the buildings that make a university on February 10, 2018. great,” Tomlinson said, “it’s the people.” An emeritus , DDS’54, professor of chemistry at McMaster University, he also DAVID S. TOPAZIAN on December 29, 2017. co-founded Gennum Corporation, which was once the world’s largest producer of microchips for hearing aids. GEORGE F. WHITAKER, BEng’54, He died on January 28 in Hamilton, Ontario. at Raleigh, N.C., on December 22, 2017. FRANCES (MARVEN) ALLEN, BA’55, at Brossard, Que., on April 21, 2018. MICHAEL HUGH DICKSON, BSc(Agr)’55, GEOFFERY M. CAMP, BEng’51, at Geneva, N.Y., on March 28, 2018. at Oakville, Ont., on March 23, 2018. DONALD A. GEORGE, BEng’55, JAMES D. PRENTICE, BSc’51, MSc’53, on December 6, 2016. at Victoria, B.C., on January 16, 2018. MARVIN B. GOLDSMITH, BCom’55, ORLAND O. SCHAUS, BEng’51, MEng’52, PhD’54, at Westmount, Que., on January 2, 2018. at Toronto, on September 3, 2017. WILLIAM JOHN WATSON, BLS’55, MA’55, J. PEARCE BUNTING, BCom’52, on April 13, 2018. at Toronto, on April 27, 2017. PETER W. MORSE, BCom’56, NANCY R. HALE, BA’52, at Ottawa, on February 1, 2018. at Montreal, on December 21, 2017. ALVA TROSSMAN, Dip(PTh)’56, JOHN E. HALL, MDCM’52, on January 2, 2018. on March 22, 2018. RENÉE BENN, BA’57, FRANKLIN E. MCCOY, MDCM’52, at Naples, Fla., on January 20, 2018. at Fargo, N.D., on January 22, 2018. DOUGLAS G. HICKS, BSc(Agr)’57, HARVEY ROSENBLOOM, BCom’52, in January, 2018. at Montreal, on May 5, 2018. JOHN R. HILGER, MDCM’57, JOHN F. SMITH, BEng’52, at Tacoma, Wash., on May 31, 2018. at Perth, Ont., on February 10, 2018. ROBERT S. KADOWAKI, BSc’57, DDS’63, AUDREY WIPPER, BA’52, MA’55, at Beaconsfi eld, Que., on December 31, 2017. at Kitchener, Ont., on April 15, 2018. GEZA KARDOS, MEng’57, PhD’65, JOHN A. D’URSO, BSc’53, MDCM’58, at Ottawa, on February 20, 2018. at Mount Kisco, N.Y., on July 21, 2017. NORMAN M. MAY QC, BA’57, BCL’61, WILLIAM J. LAWAND, BCom’53, at Toronto, on March 15, 2018. at Montreal, on April 17, 2018. ANDREW NOVAKOFF, BEng’57, JOHN RILEY MCNULTY, MDCM’53, at Montreal, on January 14, 2018. in North Carolina, on March 13, 2018. GEORGE H. CRAM, BSc’58, BD’64, DOUGLAS PHILLIPS, BSc(Agr)’53, MSc’59, at Toronto, on March 16, 2018. in Ontario, on February 12, 2018.

M C GILL NEWS / 61 / SUMMER 2018 IN MEMORIAM

ALLAN A. HODGSON, BA’58, EDEMARIAM TSEGA, MDCM’65, at London, England, on December 19, 2017. at Hamilton, Ont., on January 1, 2018. BEV (HADDON) UPSHAW, DipEd’58, SOLLY KARKOUKLY, BCom’66, at Strathmore, Alta., on December 11, 2017. at Montreal, on January 2, 2018. DONALD A. COGGAN, BEng’67, 1960s at Bromont, Que., on February 18, 2018. JAMES W. SKILLINGS, DDS’60, , BA’67, at Bedford, N.H., on March 26, 2018. FRANK D. LEWIS at Kingston, Ont., on March 14, 2018. HAROLD C. STRAUSS, BSc’60, MDCM’64, , BA’68, at Durham, N.C., on March 1, 2018. PATRICIA (DAVIDSON) SCOTT at Toronto, on February 26, 2018. BERNARD ALTSHULLER, BEng’61, MEng’64, , BSc(HEc)’68, at Toronto, on February 27, 2018. DOREEN N. JOSE at Matanzas, Cuba, on January 29, 2018. JANET BLACHFORD, BA’61, MA’63, , BA’68, MA’75, PhD’81, at Montreal, on February 12, 2018. A. VICTOR LEVANT at Westmount, Que., on May 5, 2018. MARY ALETHA (ERCK) DRUMMIE, MSc(A)’61, , BCL’69, at Fredericton, N.B., on January 25, 2018. MAURICE FORGET at Montreal, on May 3, 2018. BARRY D. FLETCHER, MDCM’61, , BA’69, at Asheville, N.C., on May 17, 2018. DAVID E. OBORNE at Toronto, on December 26, 2017. RICHARD L. ROVIT, MSc’61, at Boston, Mass., on April 10, 2018. 1970s JOHN BAATZ, BEng’62, KENNETH AIKIN, BSc’70, MDCM’74, in Pasadena, Calif., on January 22, 2018. at Naples, Fla., on March 21, 2018. EWART BUDGELL, BCom’63, MARGARET E. A. BLACK, BScN’70, in Etobicoke, Ont., on March 24, 2018. at Hamilton, Ont., on February 15, 2018. TARAS CHUPRUN, BEd’63, SUSAN SPECTOR, BA’71, MSc(A)’73, in Quebec, on November 1, 2017. at Sanibel, Fla., on March 25, 2018. DONALD A. ELLIOTT, BEng’63, DAVID WILSON CHURCH, BSc’72, on May 16, 2018. on December 17, 2017. TEENA GOLDBERG, BN’65, CONSTANCE BLAIR, BEd’82, at Ottawa, on February 5, 2018. at Montreal, on May 2, 2018. DAVID SHAANAN, MBA’74, at Montreal, on January 5, 2018. BRENDA INKSTER, BSc’76, STANLEY HARTT, BA’58, MA’61, at Victoria, B.C., on February 4, 2018. BCL’63, enjoyed success as a lawyer and as a business leader, but he made GORDON CHARLES SAVILLE, BTh’76, STM’78, his largest mark on Canada as a at Medicine Hat, Alta., on February 23, 2018. behind-the-scenes power player on CHRISTOPHER BERRY GRAY, BCL’78, LLB’79, Parliament Hill. Not long after Brian at Montreal, on May 1, 2018. Mulroney became prime minister, he BEVERLY IKEMAN, BSW’79, MSW’84, summoned Hartt, a friend, to Ottawa. at Sarasota, Fla., on February 12, 2018. As deputy finance minister from 1985 to 1988, Hartt played a key role in the privatization of 1980s Air Canada and Petro Canada and in the formation of the DAVIS C. DRINKWATER, MSc’80, Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. As Mulroney’s chief of in Nashville, Tenn., on March 13, 2017. staff from 1989 to 1990, Hartt was involved in a number of high-profi le initiatives, including the introduction of the GST, WARREN WILSON SOPER, BEng’80, the Meech Lake Accord and the international eff orts to free at Greenfi eld Park, Que., on January 19, 2018. Nelson Mandela. “Canada was lucky to have him,” Mulroney told the Globe and Mail. Hartt died in Toronto on January 3. ANDRÉ BOURBEAU, BCL’59, was a key fi gure in Quebec premier Robert Bourassa’s government from 1985 to 1993, holding a variety of cabi- net posts, including finance. After PETER S. B. DIGBY, retired professor of zoology, serving in the National Assembly at Pointe-Claire, Que., on December 24, 2017. from 1981 to 2003, he was the chair VIRGINIA DOUGLAS, retired professor emerita of Hydro-Québec until 2005. After of psychology, at Halifax, N.S., on December 8, 2017. his time in government, he devoted his energy to a lifelong passion — classical music. As the BRUCE R. DOWNEY, PhD’81, professor emeritus of longtime president of the Jeunesses Musicales Canada animal science, at Pointe-Claire, Que., on April 4, 2018. Foundation, he played an instrumental role in securing a DEIRDRE EDWARD, retired faculty member, permanent home and concert hall for the organization (now Department of Experimental Surgery, known as André-Bourbeau House). He also co-founded the at Mount Royal, Que., on December 21, 2017. popular Montreal International Music Competition, the FRANCES EZZY-JORGENSEN, retired administrator, only annual event of its kind in North America. He died on Research Grants Offi ce and Faculty of Science, March 25. at Montreal, on April 29, 2018. PHILIP GORDON, professor of surgery and oncology, in Montreal, on April 11, 2018. MARY JERRETT, BN’64, former associate professor of , MA’82, VERONICA VAILLANCOURT nursing, at Ottawa, on November 20, 2017. at Ottawa, on March 9, 2018. FIONA M. KEY, DipPsych’80, faculty member, CHRISTOPHER HANS VIERECK, BSc’82, Department of Psychiatry, at Montreal, on March 4, 2018. at New York City, N.Y., on December 19, 2017. HERVÉ LE MOUAL, associate professor TASHA ANNE WALLACE, MBA’84, of microbiology and immunology, and dentistry, at Montreal, on September 10, 2017. at Montreal, on March 3, 2018. PAUL JOONG, MBA’88, ABBY LIPPMAN, PhD’78, professor emerita at Hershey, Penn., on January 26, 2018. of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health, at Montreal, on December 26, 2017. 1990s BENJAMIN HENRY DAVENPORT, LLB’94, BCL’94, SAMUEL MELAMED, BSc’43, MSc’53, PhD’57, at Calgary, Alta., on March 3, 2017. retired professor emeritus of mathematics and statistics, at Toronto, on July 23, 2017. GORDON NUGENT, BCom’96, at Montreal, on May 12, 2018. MICHAEL MILDE, director emeritus, McGill Institute of Air and Space Law, 2000s at London, Ont., on May 6, 2018. LYLE COREY GOLDSMITH, BA’00, SARAH PALTIEL, BA’52, LLD’92, governor emerita, at Montreal, on May 16, 2018. at Montreal, on January 26, 2018. DIANE A. RAYMOND, retired professor of food science, STUDENTS at Cornwall, Ont., on September 14, 2017. EMEFA AGBESHI, an undergraduate student in physiology , retired professor emeritus and a MasterCard Scholar, on January 5, 2018. WILLIAM L. RYAN of education, in Nova Scotia, on November 4, 2017. FACULTY, GOVERNORS AND STAFF HUNTINGTON SHELDON, BA’51, LLD’96, IRENA BELLERT, retired professor of communications professor emeritus of pathology, and linguistics, at Rawdon, Que., on December 17, 2017. at Shelburne, Vt., on December 29, 2017. EDWARD BURNETT, MSc(A)’68, DEd’79, J. GRAHAM SMITH, retired professor of economics, retired professor, Desautels Faculty of Management, at Ottawa, on January 30, 2018. at Vancouver, B.C., on February 6, 2018. CLIFFORD CHAMPNESS, PhD’62, professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering, at Pointe-Claire, Que., on March 12, 2018.

M C GILL NEWS / 63 / SUMMER 2018 MCGILL MOMENT A SONG FOR A SUPERSTAR Élie Manousakis, BMus’17, grew up in a home where the music of Nana Mouskouri was played often. So it was a thrill when Manousakis recently had the chance to perform for the legendary Greek singer. Mouskouri, DLitt’13, who has sold more than 300 million records, was in Montreal in May for her Forever Young Tour and gave a masterclass to four McGill voice students, including Manousakis. OWEN EGAN OWEN

M C GILL NEWS / 64 / SUMMER 2018 “ The littlest thing tripped me up in more ways than one.”

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