ALUMNI MAGAZINE WINTER 2017/18 WHERE THE ACTION IS Montreal is a red-hot hub for artificial intelligence and McGill is playing a leading role CHARLES TAYLOR HAS HIS SAY INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES SUR, POUR ET AVEC MONTRÉAL MCGILLNEWS.MCGILL.CA Take advantage of your alumni privileges. Get preferred rates and coverage that fits your needs. Supporting you … and McGill Alumni Association You could save big* when you combine your alumni As a McGill University alumni, you have access to the TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program. preferred rates and bundle This means you can get preferred insurance rates your home and car insurance. on a wide range of home and car coverage that can be customized for your needs. For over 65 years, TD Insurance has been helping Canadians find quality home and car insurance solutions. Feel confident your home and car coverage fits Recommended by your needs. Get a quote now. HOME | CAR | TRAVEL Get a quote and see how much you could save! Call 1-888-589-5656 Or, go to tdinsurance.com/mcgillalumni The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. It is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. in Quebec, by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. in Ontario, and by TD Insurance Direct Agency Inc. in the rest of Canada. Our address: 50 Place Cremazie, 12th Floor, Montreal, Quebec H2P 1B6. Due to provincial legislation, our car and recreational insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. *Nationally, 90% of all of our clients who belong to a professional or alumni group that has an agreement with us and who insure a home (excluding rentals and condos) and a car on October 31, 2016, saved $625 when compared to the premiums they would have paid without the preferred insurance rate for groups and the multi-product discount. Savings are not guaranteed and may vary based on the client’s profile. Savings vary in each province and may be higher or lower than $625. Wide Horizons Solution® Travel Insurance is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada and distributed in some provinces by RSA Travel Insurance Inc., operating as RSA Travel Insurance Agency in British Columbia. All trade marks are the property of their respective owners. ® The TD logo and other TD trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. IN THIS ISSUE 3 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK 4 PRINCIPAL’S PERSPECTIVE 5 NEWSBITES 10 ALUMNI PROFILE 11 DISCOVERY 40 REVIEWS 42 ALUMNI ACTIVITIES 44 ALUMNI PROFILE 45 ALUMNOTES 59 IN MEMORIAM 64 MCGILL MOMENT 16 RISE OF THE MACHINES Montreal has become a global hotspot for cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence. As AI transforms the world of technology, McGill computer scientists Joëlle Pineau and Doina Precup are playing major roles. BY DANIEL MCCABE, BA’89 22 28 34 A PHILOSOPHER OF THE ROAD TO UN TRAVAIL THE HERE AND NOW RECONCILIATION DE MONTRÉALISTES One of the world’s most With the Report of the Pour être membre du Centre influential thinkers, Truth and Reconciliation de recherches interdisciplinaires Charles Taylor, BA’52, Commission serving as en études montréalaises has long been celebrated a catalyst, McGill is planning (CRIEM), les chercheurs for his compassionate and for a future in which many doivent obligatoirement clear-eyed approach. more Indigenous students adhérer au principe du partage As he takes stock of the pursue degrees at the des expertises et de la 21st century, he sees cause University – almost triple co-construction du savoir for both hope and alarm. the current number. avec le milieu. BY LISA FITTERMAN, BA’81 BY PATRICK MCDONAGH PAR JEAN-BENOÎT NADEAU (B. A. 1992) M C GILL NEWS •WINTER 2017/18 1 Show your McGill pride FREE SHIPPING Anywhere in Canada with online purchases of $40 or more* before taxes. *Course materials and diploma frames are excluded from this oer. Visit us in-store, online and on Facebook! www.lejames.mcgill.ca McG News EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK WINTER 2017/18 Volume 98 / No 2 OWEN EGAN OWEN EDITOR Daniel McCabe, BA’89 A SPECIAL SENIOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER Brenda Branswell RELATIONSHIP CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Daniel Chonchol, BCL’81, LLB’82 MANAGING DIRECTOR, he first time I gained a real sense of just how important McGill was to COMMUNICATIONS AND DONOR RELATIONS Montreal was when I read X-Men #120 back in high school. Derek Cassoff At the time, X-Men was the best-selling comic book in North America and a pop culture phenomenon — at least among nerdy EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS 15-year-olds like me. What made that issue particularly noteworthy was Jennifer Testa the introduction of a brand-new Canadian superhero team called Alpha Flight. Natasha Carr-Harris T Among its members was a shaggy orange behemoth named Sasquatch, who, in ADVISORY BOARD his civilian identity, was Walter Langkowski, a former NFL player turned physics Courtney Mullins, BCom’06 (Chair) professor. Langkowski lived in Montreal, where he taught at McGill. Annmarie Adams, BA’81 My hometown got a mention in X-Men. Because of McGill. That got my Christopher Buddle attention. (And the notion of a former NFL player becoming a McGill physics Carole Graveline, BA’75 Allan Johnson, BA’85 professor seems a little less preposterous since McGill medical student Gabrielle Korn Laurent Duvernay-Tardif began taking breaks from his studies to suit up for Adam Muscott, BCom’99, MBA’05 the Kansas City Chiefs.) Marc Weinstein, BA’85, BCL’91, LLB’91 The first time I gained a real sense of just how important Montreal was to me was a few years ago on a train as it approached Windsor Station. I had been DESIGN Steven McClenaghan encouraged to apply for a job in another city and I was heading back home after Graphic Design, Communications an interview for the position. As the train travelled past familiar landmarks, and External Relations I was caught off-guard by a wrenching sorrow caused by the possibility that I might be moving on. I knew I liked Montreal, but I hadn’t fully realized how MCGILL NEWS much I loved Montreal. (I was soon rescued from any further psychic discomfort 1430 Peel Street when the decision was made to hire someone else for that job.) Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 3T3 Tel.: 514-398-5000 Montreal is a unique and dynamic city, in part, because it has McGill. Fax: 514-398-5293 McGill consistently attracts talented people, in part, because they want to live Email: [email protected] in Montreal. It’s been a win-win proposition for almost two centuries now. Web: mcgillnews.mcgill.ca Principal Suzanne Fortier has her own thoughts on the special relationship @McGillNewsMag Twitter: between her city and her university. You can find them by turning the page. McGill News is published by One of our feature articles this issue focuses on the McGill-led Centre for McGill University Interdisciplinary Research on Montreal, a consortium of Montreal-based Circulation: 50,000 copies researchers that will be carefully examining the city and its defining charac- Printed in Canada ISSN 0709 9223 teristics for years to come. CIRM members have already noticed one thing. Montrealers often take some of their city’s best qualities — its diversity, for Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40613661 instance — for granted. Another of our features looks at Montreal’s emergence in the flourishing Cover illustration: Thinkstock field of artificial intelligence. Publications likeFortune and Fast Company have taken notice and many of the biggest names in the tech industry are setting up shop in the city and turning to McGill professors and graduates for their expertise. It’s another example of McGill benefitting Montreal and Montreal benefitting McGill. Once you get past the potholes and the construction detours and the long winters and the Canadiens’ perpetual inability to find a top-line centre, Montrealers would quickly agree that this is a city with one-of-a-kind charms. The 375th anniversary might be over, but our celebration of Montreal will never end. DANIEL MCCABE, BA’89 M C GILL NEWS •WINTER 2017/18 3 THE PRINCIPAL’S PERSPECTIVE CELEBRATING OUR CITY THINKSTOCK MONTREAL MARKED ITS 375TH ANNIVERSARY WITH AN ARRAY OF SPECIAL EVENTS THROUGHOUT 2017. PRINCIPAL SUZANNE FORTIER, BSC’72, PHD’76, RECENTLY SHARED HER THOUGHTS ON WHY MONTREAL IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN MCGILL’S SUCCESS AND HOW THE UNIVERSITY PLAYS AN INSTRUMENTAL ROLE IN THE CITY. What are some of the ways in which McGill benefits Speaking of artificial intelligence and Montreal’s from being in Montreal? emergence in this area, what are some of the things Montreal’s open and lively culture is an important asset to us. that led to what we are seeing today? Montreal is a very dynamic city. There are always many artistic What Canada and its universities did right was to support for and cultural events happening in this city and their diversity many years the fundamental research that was going on in AI, gives our community an understanding of what is happening in despite not knowing where and when it could be applied. That the world culturally. That is important for both our Canadian allowed us to retain a critical mass of highly talented researchers and international students. In addition, with 30 percent of our in this field who developed the powerful methodologies that are enrolment coming from outside of Canada, our University is today giving us a head start. It is important to remember that home to people from all over the world. It is important for our until recently these methodologies could not be fully exploited, international students to feel welcomed in our city.