McGill University
McGill University
Shield of McGill University
Grandescunt aucta labore
(By work, all things increase and grow)
| Established | 1821 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| Principal | Heather Monroe-Blum |
| Location | Montreal, Quebec |
| Enrollment | 22,915 undergraduate, 6,895 graduate |
| Faculty | 1,436 |
| Campus | Urban, 80 acres (32 ha) |
| Sports teams | 14 |
| Mascot | Martlet |
| Homepage | www.mcgill.ca |
Shield image © McGill University
McGill University, established in 1821, is in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. One of the oldest universities in Canada, it has long been considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in the country and among the finest in North America.
Known to some as "The Harvard of the North", McGill is well-known for its pioneering research in the medical sciences, chemistry, physics and biology. The university is also famous for its high standard of undergraduate education and has an established history in the humanities, social sciences, law and physical education. In the past, McGill has often been compared with the best U.S. schools (The Gourman Report).
Noted for being a research-intensive university, it frequently garners the most research dollars nationwide (per faculty) from federal and provincial sources of funding (including CFI, NSERC and other organizations).
For a long time, McGill was considered Canada's best university. In the 1990's, the University of Toronto outpaced McGill in many respects. This change was linked to the decline of Montreal's economic importance relative to Toronto and the greater ease of raising money in the latter city. McGill's decline was also due in part to severe underfunding by the Quebec government in the 1990s. The University of British Columbia and the University of Western Ontario have also been competitors to McGill and U of T.
However, since 2001, McGill's financial standing has been steadily improving, due to private donations and matching funds from the provincial government. In fact, McGill's endowment is number one in the country on a per capita basis. National rankings of Canadian Universities have also shown McGill rebounding to the top of the class, where McGill ranked #2 in the annual Maclean's survey of Canadian Universities in 2003. The university has also had the distinction of having the highest publication intensity of any institution in the country for many years. This was one of the factors, which led to the school being ranked as Canada's #1 Research University of the Year in 2003. [1]
Campus
The main campus is situated in downtown Montreal at the foot of Mount Royal. Most of the buildings are situated in a parklike campus north of rue Sherbrooke between rue Peel and rue Aylmer, and north of avenue Docteur-Penfield west of rue Peel (near Peel and McGill metro stations). A secondary campus is located in the district of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue named Macdonald College, some 32 kilometres from downtown Montreal in the western tip of the Island of Montreal.
The architecture of the downtown campus is an eclectic mix reflecting the various periods in which the buildings were erected, although they are all constructed using local grey limestone, which serves as a unifying element.
Students
The student population is in excess of 28,000. McGill has a higher percentage of American students, out-of-province students, and international students than any other Canadian university, and it has students from over 150 countries. Admission at McGill is done in thirds: Two-thirds of available first-year seats are allocated for Quebec residents, two-thirds of the remaining seats are allocated for the rest of Canada, and the rest are left for international students. Although the university is one of two English-language universities in Montreal, 22% of students at McGill speak French as their first language.
The Quebec government has long encouraged international students from selected countries (such as some members of La Francophonie) to attend their universities over students from other Canadian provinces. Since 1996 it has been more expensive for an out-of-province student to attend McGill than it is for many foreigners from countries that have special agreements with Quebec. This, in addition to McGill's international reputation, partially accounts for why McGill has a high percentage of foreign students. Nevertheless, owing to Quebec government subsidies, some students paying out-of-province tuition find it less expensive to attend McGill than universities in their home province.
Students life is varied and vibrant, reflecting the many cultures and tastes of the students and of Montreal. While the politics of the faculty can vary, the student body is generally left-leaning.
History
In 1813, James McGill bequeathed his 46 acre (190 m²) estate and 10,000 pounds to "the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning." This institution established McGill University in 1821. Later, in 1905, Sir William Macdonald helped develop Macdonald College, which currently houses research and classes in botany, agricultural science, environmental science and the like.
Facts
- McGill was the first non-denominational university in the British Empire.
- It is one of only two Canadian universities holding a membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization comprising top-tier North American research universities. (The other Canadian university member is the University of Toronto)
- McGill boasts six Nobel laureates and two Canadian prime ministers.
- McGill has produced 122 Rhodes Scholars, the most of any Canadian university.
- McGill's class of 1952 includes William Shatner, who portrayed Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek. Students have (unofficially) named McGill's Student Union building after him.
- The McGill Daily, founded in 1911, is the longest-running student newspaper in the British Commonwealth.
- McGill's MBA program has been consistently been ranked among the top 40 in the world by the Economist and Financial Times.
- McGill has consistently ranked among the top four medical/doctoral universities nationwide, in the Maclean's rankings, an annual ranking of Canadian universities.
- McGill's Redpath Museum, commissioned in 1880 and opened in 1882, is the oldest building built specifically as a museum in North America. Its natural history collections boast material collected by the same individuals who founded the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Smithsonian.
- The Sunday Times in 1998 listed McGill as one of the 10 Centres of Excellence in the world. McGill appeared in tenth spot, behind Cambridge, Oxford, Sorbonne and Heidelberg.
- As of November 2003, McGill has the fastest supercomputer (Beowulf cluster) in Canada.
Noted alumni and professors
Academics and scholars
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Current Presidents of other Canadian universities
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Business and media
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Politics and government
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Art, music, and film
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Inventors
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Others
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Nobel Prize winners
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It is a little known fact that the inventions of hockey, basketball and North American football are all related to McGill in some way. The first game of North American football was played between McGill and Harvard Universities in 1874. During World War II, the International Labour Organization was headquartered at McGill.
In terms of contributions to computing, MUSIC/SP, a piece of software for mainframes, once popular among universities and colleges around the world at its time, was developed at McGill. A team also contributed to the development of Archie, one of the pre-WWW search engines. A 3270 terminal emulator developed at McGill was commercialized and later sold to Hummingbird Software.
Hospitals
McGill University is affiliated with seven teaching hospitals in Montreal, four of which compose the McGill University Health Centre:
- the McGill University Health Centre, made up of
- the Montreal General Hospital,
- the Royal Victoria Hospital (including the Montreal Chest Institute),
- the Montreal Children's Hospital,
- the Montreal Neurological Hospital;
- the Jewish General Hospital,
- the Douglas Hospital, and
- St. Mary's Hospital Centre.
Symbols
The university's symbol is the martlet; its motto is Grandescunt Aucta Labore (by work, all things grow). Inscribed in its arms is In Domino Confido (I trust in the Lord), James McGill's personal motto. Its sports teams are named Martlets (women) and Redmen (men), and its school colours are red and white. The school song is entitled "Hail Alma Mater".