SHEDDING LIGHT on NAZI-LOOTED ART Concordia Leads the Max Stern Art Restitution Project

SPRING 2012 SHEDDING LIGHT ON NAZI-LOOTED ART Concordia leads the Max Stern Art Restitution Project UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE FINE ARTS WORK @ HOME > OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHY > TURCOT : UN NŒUD À DÉMÊLER “I never thought my alumni group rates could save me so much.” – Kitty Huang Satisfied client since 2009 See how good your quote can be. At TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, we know how important it is to save wherever you can. As a graduate or student of Concordia University, you can enjoy preferred group rates on your home and auto insurance and other exclusive privileges, thanks to our partnership with your association. You’ll also benefit from great coverage and outstanding service. We believe in making insurance easy to understand so you can choose your coverage with confidence. 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The winner may choose the prize between a Lexus RX 450h with all basic standard features including freight and pre-delivery inspection for a total value of $60,000 or $60,000 in Canadian funds. The winner will be responsible to pay for the sale taxes applicable to the vehicle. Skill-testing question required. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Complete contest rules available at www.melochemonnex.com/contest. ®/The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Canada and/or other countries. 30-MM8779-11_MMI.EN•concordia (8.15x10.75).indd 1 12-01-10 1:54 PM Projet : Annonce MMI 2012 Province : Québec Épreuve # : 3 Client : Meloche Monnex Publication : Concordia University Mag. Date de tombée : 20/01/2012 No de dossier : Format : 8.125x10.75 30-MM8779-11_MMI.EN•concordia (8.125x10.75) Couleur : Quad Graphiste : Yannick Decosse Hamelin Martineau • 505, boul. de Maisonneuve O. Bureau 300 • Montréal (Québec) H3A 3C2 • T : 514 842 4416 F : 514 844 9343 ATTENTION : Merci de vérifier attentivement cette épreuve afin d’éviter toute erreur. university magazine ALUMNI PROFILE: THE CREATIVE CLASS These Concordia grads have found creative ways—from offering IN PURSUIT OF communications advice to building high-end saunas—to translate STOLEN ART— their Fine Arts degrees into successful businesses. AND JUSTICE For 10 years, Concordia 12 has led the Max Stern Art Restitution Project’s search for Nazi-looted art. 6 By Julie Gedeon PELAGIC LIFE: NURTURING THE SOUL IN THE OPEN OCEAN An alumna joins a team working to preserve the spectacular ocean beauty off the Mexican coasts. By Monica Lafon 18 22 TRANCHER LE NŒUD GORDIEN Pierre Gauthier, professeur au Département de géographie, d’urbanisme et d’environnement, s’affaire à dépêtrer Montréal du bourbier de l’échangeur Turcot. FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: FINE ARTS Par Patrice-Hans Perrier The Department of Design and Computation Arts teaches students to be imaginative and environmentally conscious. By Ann Tanner-McDonald 26 spring 2012 volume 36 number 1 magazine.concordia.ca Cover: A detail of Allegory of Earth and Water by Jan 2 EDITOR’S VOICE Brueghel the Younger (Brueghel II), one of the Nazi- looted paintings tracked down and recovered by the 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Concordia-led Max Stern Art Restitution Project. 4 CONCORDIA NEWS This publication is printed on 100% recycled paper, including 28 ALUMNI NEWS 20% post consumer waste. For each ton of recycled paper that displaces a ton of virgin paper, it reduces total energy 32 CLASS ACTS consumption by 27%, greenhouse gas emissions by 47%, particulate emissions by 28%, wastewater by 33%, solid 38 WORDS & MUSIC waste by 54% and wood use by 100%. 40 ENOUGH SAID E D I TO R ’S VOICE A change is gonna come t certainly wasn’t comedian While our faculty mem- Billy Crystal who first said, bers have in recent years I “The more things change, the increasingly unearthed more they stay the same.” Yet the these types of discover- original French proverb, plus ça ies while capturing growing change, plus c’est la même chose, sources of research fund- might have been coined with him ing, they weren’t always in mind. Although we thought noticed. The new attention we’d seen the last of him at the is partly due to a concert- Academy Awards, the producers ed effort by our University of the 2012 Oscar ceremonies Communications Services opted for a new direction—back team, led by chief com- to the future—and asked Crystal munications officer to be its host for a ninth time. Philippe Beauregard, who The veteran comic can, how- came onboard two years ago. ever, be credited with one pithy And it isn’t just about PR: an quote about transformation: improved research profile— “Change is such hard work.” which is part of Concordia’s He’s right. Our world would new academic plan—can be so much easier, it seems, if help attract top students and we sat on our collective keis- faculty members, strength- ters. Nonetheless, like a shark en the value of alumni’s that needs to keep moving or die, if Claire was president and CEO of the degrees and inform the public of individuals, families, institutions or National Gallery of Canada Foundation. important news. governments didn’t continually grow (It’s therefore appropriate that our One of the key players on Philippe’s and advance, we’d have a dead shark on page-12 cover story features the re- media relations team was Sylvain- our hands (to borrow from another New covery of art treasures plundered by Jacques Desjardins, BA 97, a grad of our Yorker, Woody Allen). the Nazis in the 1930s from the late journalism program and my one-time And at Concordia, our shark is alive Montreal art gallery owner Max Stern.) Concordia University Magazine student in- and well. (For proof, check out “Pelagic Concordia’s research profile has also tern. Sylvain-Jacques previously brought Life” on page 18.) We’ve undergone enjoyed a dramatic change. Newshounds his writing and communications skills much change lately—from buildings may have noticed that, of late, the uni- to McGill University and Université de to people to academic strategies—and versity’s research findings have received Montréal before returning to Concordia while that may mean more effort for significantly more play—locally and in 2010. In December, he stepped into us, it’s good news for students, faculty nationally—than before. According to the role of director of communications members, alumni and society. an external auditing firm, 40 per cent for Advancement and Alumni Relations— Among the important Concordia of Concordia’s headlines last fall were in other words, he became my boss. developments for our readers is the about research. To cite just one example, Sylvain-Jacques completely supports arrival of Advancement and Alumni the National Post newspaper reported the idea of incorporating some exciting Relations’ new VP, Marie Claire Morin February 6 on Concordia psy chology changes to the magazine, and within the (see Concordia News on page 5). Before professor William Bukowski’s recent next few issues you’ll start to see some of starting in January to lead the univer- study that found young children benefit those incorporated. sity’s fundraising efforts and strengthen physiologically and psychologically by Yes, change is hard work, Billy—but ties with its 160,000 alumni, Marie having a best friend. bring it on! 2 | spring 2012 concordia university magazine PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Enriching the undergraduate student experience he earnest debate about the value, cost and quality of a university Teducation in Canada has critical implications for the development of higher education, our youth and our country. As the president of a large Canadian university with some 46,000 CONCORDIA STRIVES TO ENSURE THAT ITS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS RECEIVE A TOP-LEVEL EDUCATION. students who come from a wide range of backgrounds, I am reminded every centres at the expense of teaching qual- by giving them the tools to do so. We day about the positive impact that a ity. This is certainly not what I hear from encourage students’ creative thinking university education can have on the students at Concordia. and foster the professional development quality of their lives and their future. Our university is committed not only of many through experiential learning Studies show unequivocally that to traditional academic achievement and community engagement. obtaining an undergraduate degree but also to respecting diversity and pro- Concordia values our students’ per- is a springboard to better economic moting accessibility. We are devoting sonal development, and this includes and social wellbeing, and graduate appreciable resources to give students encouraging them to contribute to the study even more so. Consider one the personal attention they need. This wider society long before they gradu- measure—job prospects in OECD has been part of our culture stretching ate. The Concordia LIVE (Leadership (Organization for Economic Co- back more than 100 years to the begin- Initiative and Volunteer Engagement) operation and Development) countries nings of our founding institutions.

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