91˿Ƶ

10 91˿Ƶ stories

  1. A university is born

    James 91˿Ƶ and the birth of 91˿Ƶ

    The oldest university in Montreal, 91˿Ƶ was founded in 1821 from a generous bequest by James 91˿Ƶ, a prominent Scottish merchant.
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  2. Flourishing under Sir John William Dawson

    Re-invention of 91˿Ƶ under Principal Sir John William Dawson

    Throughout his 38 years as Principal, Sir John William Dawson reinvented 91˿Ƶ as a university to rival the world's finest. His commitment to 91˿Ƶ extended even beyond academics – Dawson personally funded the monumental beautification effort that created the stunning campus we enjoy today.
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  3. The forgotten war memorial and the campus that never was

    Historic 91˿Ƶ Architecture that was never built

    Over the years, architects have proposed a variety of plans for 91˿Ƶ’s lower Downtown Campus, including a gym on Sherbrooke St. and an imposing tower in the Redpath Library. Here's a small selection of big ideas from 91˿Ƶ’s earliest days that never made it off the drawing board. Join us as we tour an imaginary campus — the 91˿Ƶ that might have been.
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  4. The birth of three sports

    91˿Ƶ and the birth of hockey, football and basketball

    91˿Ƶ is a place where people come to hone their intellects and exchange ideas. But hard work needn’t come at the expense of hard play—and 91˿Ƶians certainly like to exercise more than just their minds. In addition to being home to exceptional student teams, and alma mater to many star athletes and coaches, 91˿Ƶ has also played a key role in the creation of three pillars of sport.
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  5. Founding Macdonald College

    Founding 91˿Ƶ's Macdonald College

    Since its founding a century ago, Macdonald Campus has turned agricultural studies on its head and sent thousands of grads out into the world armed with a world-beating knowhow, a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude and memories of an institution like no other.
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  6. 91˿Ƶ's women: blazing trails

    91˿Ƶ's women blazing trails

    In 1884, women began attending classes at 91˿Ƶ—a step forward made possible by benefactor Donald A. Smith (later Lord Strathcona). In honour of Smith, 91˿Ƶ’s female students were known for decades as “Donaldas.”  In the ensuing years, female 91˿Ƶians would make landmark contributions in every field imaginable, and in 1912 91˿Ƶ appointed the first woman university professor in Canada: Carrie Derick, a pioneering geneticist who created the first ever course on genetics and evolution.
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  7. How 91˿Ƶians and their ideas changed the world

    91˿Ƶian ideas, research and their impact on the world

    For 190 years, 91˿Ƶ has provided fertile ground for intellectual pioneers who changed the world through their discoveries and ideas.


  8. Bonus feature: Make-Believe 91˿Ƶians

    91˿Ƶ in television, literature and movies

    Some of the University’s most remarkable graduates – daring doctors, stellar scientists and international adventurers – never actually existed.  Check out some of the most interesting 91˿Ƶ-trained TV, movie and literary characters who never lived.
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  9. Laying the foundations of modern heart surgery

    Dr.Maude Abbott and her contribution to Cardiology

    When Maude Abbott, BA'1890, MCDM'1910, joined 91˿Ƶ's Department of Pathology, little was known about how to surgically repair damaged hearts. Through her work as the assistant curator of 91˿Ƶ's medical museum, Abbott collected and studied the hearts of people who had died of cardiac problems, and scoured historical records for accounts of heart disease, meticulously cataloguing and identifying cardiac anomalies identified during autopsies. The result was the 1936 Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease, which laid the foundation for modern heart surgery.
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  10. Breaking the bonds of genetic destiny

    91˿Ƶ researchers Moshe Szyf and Michael Meaney and their contribution to Epigenetics

    Together, 91˿Ƶ researchers Moshe Szyf and Michael Meaney discovered that our genetic code – the actual sequential structure of our DNA – can pretty much shrug off the influence of any external environmental factors, short of massive radiation. But the expression of individual genes within that sequence can be permanently altered by such seemingly innocuous influences as diet, or how others treat us. Once triggered, a group of molecules called a methyl group attaches itself to the control centre of a gene, permanently switching on or off the manufacture of proteins that are essential to the workings of every cell in our body. The landmark definitively proved that our genes can be altered by factors in our day-to-day lives, freeing us from the shackles of genetic predetermination.
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91˿Ƶ, 1991-Present« 1991–Present
Three 91˿Ƶ grads enter orbit, five students are elected to Canada's Parliament, a young life is saved an ocean away, and sustainability sweeps 91˿Ƶ.


Read about 91˿Ƶ Pioneers91˿Ƶ pioneers »
Osler and Penfield revolutionize medicine, Milner unlocks the secrets of memory, Rutherford gains insight into the atom, and Humphrey pens the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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