Major gift from Macdonald Stewart Foundation<br>bolsters water resource management studies</br>
$1.5-million donation builds on Macdonald campus founder’s legacy
As McGill gets set to welcome back thousands of graduates for Homecoming, the University is pleased to announce that its Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has received a $1.5-million gift from the Macdonald Stewart Foundation in support of water resource management studies.
This generous donation will create the Liliane and David M. Stewart Water Management Program, which will build on McGill’s existing strengths in water management and water-related food security issues. A special ceremony to celebrate this gift will take place on Saturday, Oct. 15 at noon, in the Centennial Centre Ballroom of McGill’s Macdonald Campus.
Named in honour of Dr. Liliane Stewart, LLD’99, and her late husband Dr. David M. Stewart, LLD’78, this new program will support a wide range of initiatives in the Faculty’s Department of Bioresource Engineering, providing additional funding to attract and retain postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars, create financial awards to recognize the academic achievements of top undergraduate and graduate students, and establish seminars, symposia and conferences that will bring together academics, stakeholders and policy makers from around the world.
“By partnering with McGill, we are building on Sir William Macdonald’s extraordinary vision of staying at the avant-garde of groundbreaking new academic areas,” said Bruce Bolton, BSc’72, Executive Director of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation.
Chandra A. Madramootoo, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, praised Mrs. Liliane Stewart and the Macdonald Stewart Foundation for their generosity and vision. “We are extremely grateful for this landmark gift to our Faculty,” he said. “This gift recognizes our strength in research and teaching related to the effective use and conservation of water resources and will ensure that McGill continues to play a lead role in this critical domain for years to come.”
This gift also represents the continuation of one of McGill’s oldest and most generous philanthropic relationships. For more than 100 years, Sir William Macdonald, the Stewart family and the Foundation have made major donations to McGill, making them one of the University’s largest donors.
“As we celebrate the 190th anniversary of McGill’s founding this year, it is heartening to see that our lead donors continue to place their faith in the excellent work and enduring ambitions of our teachers, researchers and students,” said Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill. “Our University simply could not maintain its place at the forefront of international academia without the steadfast support of partners like the Macdonald Stewart Foundation.”
This gift from the Macdonald Stewart Foundation adds to the momentum of Campaign McGill: History in the Making, which is raising the funds needed to attract and retain top students and faculty, increase access to quality education, and ensure that McGill remains one of the world’s great research-intensive and student-centred universities.
For more information on the McGill Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, visit /macdonald.
For more information on Campaign McGill, visit /campaign.
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