McGill University (French:Université McGill) is an English-languagepublicresearch university inMontreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 byroyal charter,[11] the university bears the name ofJames McGill, aScottish merchant,[12] whosebequest in 1813 established theUniversity of McGill College. In 1885, the name of the university was officially changed to McGill University.
The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning (RIAL) was created in 1801 under an Act of theLegislative Assembly of Lower Canada (41 George III Chapter 17),An Act for the establishment of Free Schools and the Advancement of Learning in this Province.[21] The RIAL was initially authorized to operate two new Royal Grammar Schools, in Quebec City and in Montreal. This was a turning point for public education in Lower Canada as the schools were created by legislation, which showed the government's willingness to support the costs of education and even the salary of a schoolmaster. This was an important first step in the creation of non-denominational schools. When James McGill died in 1813, his bequest was administered by the RIAL.
In 1846, the Royal Grammar School in Quebec City closed, and the one in Montreal merged with theHigh School of Montreal. By the mid-19th century, the RIAL had lost control of the other eighty-twogrammar schools it had administered.[22] However, in 1853 it took over the High School of Montreal from the school's board of directors and continued to operate it until 1870.[23][24] Thereafter, its sole remaining purpose was to administer the McGill bequest on behalf of the private college. The RIAL continues to exist today; it is thecorporate identity that runs the university and its various constituent bodies, including the former Macdonald College (now Macdonald Campus), theMontreal Neurological Institute, and the Royal Victoria College (the former women's college turned residence). Since the revised Royal Charter of 1852, the trustees of the RIAL are the board of governors of McGill University.[11]
McGill College
The first Principal of McGill College, The Rt. Rev.George Mountain
James McGill was born inGlasgow, Scotland, on October 6, 1744. He was a successful merchant in Quebec, having matriculated into theUniversity of Glasgow in 1756.[25][26] Soon afterwards, McGill left for North America to explore the business opportunities there, especially in the fur trade. McGill was also a slave owner, and the McGill household enslaved at least five Black and Indigenous people.[27] Between 1811 and 1813,[28] he drew up a will leaving his "Burnside estate", a 19-hectare (47-acre) tract of rural land and 10,000pounds to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning.[29][30][31]
As a condition of the bequest, the land and funds had to be used for the establishment of a "University or College, for the purposes of Education and the Advancement of Learning in the said Province."[2] The will specified a private, constituent college[11] bearing his name would have to be established within ten years of his death; otherwise, the bequest would revert to the heirs of his wife.[32]
Although McGill College received its Royal Charter in 1821, it was inactive until 1829 when the Montreal Medical Institution, which had been founded in 1823, became the college's first academic unit and Canada's first medical school. The Faculty of Medicine granted its first degree, a Doctorate of Medicine and Surgery, in 1833; this was also the first medical degree to be awarded in Canada.[34]
TheFaculty of Medicine remained the school's only functioning faculty until 1843 when the Faculty of Arts commenced teaching in the newly constructedArts Building and East Wing (Dawson Hall).[35]
TheFaculty of Law was founded in 1848 and is also the oldest of its kind in the nation. In 1896, theMcGill School of Architecture was the second architecture school to be established in Canada, six years after the University of Toronto in 1890.[36]Sir John William Dawson, McGill's principal from 1855 to 1893, is often credited with transforming the school into a modern University.[37]
William Spier designed the addition of the West Wing of the Arts Building for William Molson, 1861.[38]Alexander Francis Dunlop designed major alterations to the East Wing of McGill College (now called the Arts Building, McGill University) for Prof. Bovey and the Science Dept., 1888.[39] George Allan Ross designed the Pathology Building, 1922–23; the Neurological Institute, 1933; Neurological Institute addition 1938 at McGill University.[40] Jean Julien Perrault (architect) designed theMcTavish Street residence for Charles E. Gravel, which is now called David Thompson House (1934).[41]
Women's education
Women's education at McGill began in 1884 whenDonald Smith (later theLord Strathcona and Mount Royal), began funding separate lectures for women, given by University staff members. The first degrees granted to women at McGill were conferred in 1888.[42] In 1899, the Royal Victoria College (RVC) opened as a residential college for women at McGill withHilda D. Oakeley as the head. Until the 1970s, all female undergraduate students, known as "Donaldas," were considered to be members of RVC.[43] Beginning in the autumn of 2010, the newer Tower section of Royal Victoria College became a mixed gender dormitory, whereas the older West Wing remains strictly for women. Both the Tower and the West Wing of Royal Victoria College form part of the university's residence system.[44]
McGill and World War I
The Second University Company prior to their departure for FranceStained Glass Great War Memorial entrance to the Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art
Many students and alumni enlisted in the first wave of patriotic fervour that swept the nation in 1914 at the outbreak ofWorld War I, but in the spring of 1915—after the first wave of heavy Canadian casualties at Ypres—Hamilton Gault, the founder of the Canadian regiment and a wealthy Montreal businessman, was faced with a desperate shortage of troops. When he reached out to his friends at home for support, over two hundred were commissioned from the ranks, and many more would serve as soldiers throughout the war. On their return to Canada after the war, Major George McDonald and MajorGeorge Currie formed the accounting firm McDonald Currie, which later became one of the founders ofPrice Waterhouse Coopers.[45] CaptainPercival Molson was killed in action in July 1917.Percival Molson Memorial Stadium at McGill is named in his honour.
The War Memorial Hall (more generally known as Memorial Hall) is a landmark building on the campus of McGill University. At the dedication ceremony, the Governor General of Canada (Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis) laid the cornerstone. Dedicated on October 6, 1946, the Memorial Hall and adjoining Memorial Pool honour students who had enlisted and died in theFirst World War, and in theSecond World War. In Memorial Hall, there are two Stained Glass Regimental badges, World War I and World War II Memorial Windows byCharles William Kelsey c. 1950/1.[46]
A war memorial window (1950) by Charles William Kelsey in the McGill War Memorial Hall depicts the figure of St. Michael and the badges of the Navy, Army and the Air Force.A Great War memorial window featuring Saint George and a slain dragon at the entrance to the Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art is dedicated to the memory of 23 members of the McGill chapter ofDelta Upsilon who gave their lives in the Great War.[47]
There is a memorial archway atMacdonald Campus, two additional floors added to the existingSir Arthur Currie gymnasium, a hockey rink and funding for an annual Memorial Assembly. A Book of Remembrance on a marble table contains the names of those lost in both World Wars. On November 11, 2012, the McGill Remembers website launched; the University War Records Office collected documents between 1940 and 1946 related to McGill students, staff and faculty in the Second World War.[48]
Founder of universities and colleges
McGill was instrumental in founding several major universities and colleges. It established the first post-secondary institutions inBritish Columbia to provide degree programs to the growing cities ofVancouver andVictoria. It charteredVictoria College in 1903 as an affiliated junior college of McGill, offering first and second-year courses in arts and science, until it became today'sUniversity of Victoria. British Columbia's first University was incorporated in Vancouver in 1908 as theMcGill University College of British Columbia. The private institution granted McGill degrees until it became the independent University of British Columbia in 1915.[49]
Dawson College began in 1945 as a satellite campus of McGill to absorb the anticipated influx of students afterWorld War II. Many students in their first three years in the Faculty of Engineering took courses at Dawson College to relieve the McGill campus for the later two years for their degree course. Dawson eventually became independent of McGill and evolved into the first EnglishCEGEP in Quebec. Another CEGEP,John Abbott College, was established in 1971 at the campus of McGill's Macdonald College.[50]
McGill University was the subject of controversy when in January 2023, McGill University's Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP) hosted the event, titled Sex vs. Gender (Identity) Debate In the United Kingdom and the Divorce of LGB from T. It was led by McGill alumnus Robert Wintemute. Transgender activist groups stormed the talk at McGill led by a speaker associated with a group they claimed was "notoriously transphobic and trans-exclusionary." The talk was cancelled shortly after it started.[65]
On October 10, 2025, the McGill University Association of University Professors (MAUT) made the decision to implement an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. The resolution mandated that McGill to cease its partnerships with Israeli universities.[66]
Campus
Downtown campus
McGill's main campus is located indowntown Montreal at the foot ofMount Royal.[67] Most of its buildings are in a park-like campus (also known as the Lower Campus) north ofSherbrooke Street and south ofPine Avenue betweenPeel and Aylmer streets. The campus extends west of Peel Street (also known as Upper Campus) for several blocks, starting north ofDoctor Penfield; the campus also streches east ofUniversity Street, starting north of Pine Avenue, an area that includes McGill'sPercival Molson Memorial Stadium and theMontreal Neurological Institute and Hospital. The community immediately east of University Street and south of Pine Avenue is known asMilton-Park, where a large number of students reside. The campus is near thePeel andMcGill Metro stations. A major downtown boulevard,McGill College Avenue, leads up to the Roddick Gates, the university's formal entrance. Many of the major University buildings were constructed using local greylimestone, which serves as a unifying element.[68] A number of these buildings are connected by indoor tunnels.[69]
The university's first classes were held in at Burnside Place, James McGill's country home.[31][70] Burnside Place remained the sole educational facility until the 1840s, when the school began construction on its first buildings: the central and east wings of the Arts Building.[71] The rest of the campus was essentially a cowpasture, a situation similar to the few other Canadian universities and early American colleges of the age.[72]
The university's athletic facilities, includingMolson Stadium, are on Mount Royal, near the residence halls and the Montreal Neurological Institute. The Gymnasium is named in honour of GeneralSir Arthur William Currie.[73]
Residence system
McGill's residence system comprises 16 properties providing dormitories, apartments, and hotel-style housing to approximately 3,100 undergraduate students and some graduate students from the downtown and Macdonald campuses.[74][75] Few McGill students live inresidence after their first year of undergraduate study, even if they are not from the Montreal area. Most second-year students transition to off-campus apartment housing. Many students settle in theMilton-Park neighbourhood, sometimes called the "McGill Ghetto,"[76] which is the neighbourhood directly to the east of the downtown campus. Students have also moved to areas such asMile End,The Plateau, and even as far asVerdun because of rising rent prices.[77]
Many first-year students live in the Upper Residence.[78][79] Royal Victoria College opened as a residential college for women in 1899, but its Tower section became mixed gender in September 2010 while its West Wing remains strictly for women.[44] The college's original building was designed byBruce Price and its extension was designed byPercy Erskine Nobbs and George Taylor Hyde.[80] A statue ofQueen Victoria by her daughterPrincess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, stands in front of the building.[81]
A second campus, theMacdonald Campus, inSainte-Anne-de-Bellevue houses the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, the Institute of Parasitology, and the McGill School of Environment. As of fall 2020, despite a decrease in enrolment from the previous year's 1,962 students, the campus has a total of 1,892 actively enrolled students, including those studying part-time and full-time, across all available programs. Of the total, 1,212 students are pursuing an undergraduate degree, 374 are pursuing a Masters-level degree, and 248 are pursuing a Doctoral-level degree, respectively. There is a high international student presence, since over 1 in 5 students are from outside Canada. The campus is considered by many to be quieter than the Downtown Montreal campus. TheMorgan Arboretum and theJ. S. Marshall Radar Observatory are nearby.
The MorganArboretum was created in 1945. It is a 2.5-square-kilometre (0.965 sq mi) forested reserve. Its mandated goals are to continue research related to maintaining the health of the Arboretumplantations andwoodlands, to develop new programs related to selectingspeciesadapted to developing environmental conditions and to enhancebiological diversity in both natural stands and plantations.[82]
Outaouais campus
In 2019, McGill announced the construction of a new campus for its Faculty of Medicine inGatineau, Quebec, which will allow students from theOutaouais region to complete their undergraduate medical education locally and in French. Medical students began using the new facility in August 2020.[83] The new facility is located above the emergency room at Gatineau Hospital, part of the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l'Outaouais, in addition to new offices for the associated Family Medicine Unit forresidency training.[83] Although the preparatory year for students entering the undergraduate medical education program from CEGEP was initially planned to be offered solely at the McGill downtown campus in Montreal,[83][84] collaboration with theUniversité du Québec en Outaouais made it possible to offer the program entirely in Gatineau.[85]
McGill University Health Centre redevelopment plan
In 2006, the Quebec government initiated a $1.6 billionLEED redevelopment project for theMcGill University Health Centre (MUHC). The project will expand facilities to two separate campuses[86] and consolidate the various hospitals of the MUHC on the site of an oldCPrail yard adjacent to theVendôme Metro station. This site, known as Glen Yards, comprises 170,000 square metres (1,800,000 sq ft) and spans portions of Montreal'sNotre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood and the city ofWestmount.[87]
The Glen Yards project has been controversial due to local opposition to the project, environmental issues, and the project's cost.[88]
Sustainability
In 2007, McGill premiered its Office of Sustainability and added a second full-time position in this area, the Director of Sustainability in addition to the Sustainability Officer.[89] Recent efforts in implementing its sustainable development plan include the new Life Sciences Centre which was built with LEED-Silver certification and a green roof, as well as an increase in parking rates in January 2008 to fund other sustainability projects.[89] Other student projects include The Flat: Bike Collective, which promotes alternative transportation, and the Farmer's Market, which occurs during the fall harvest.[90]
McGill Community for Lifelong Learning
Founded in 1989, the McGill Community for Lifelong Learning (MCLL) is an educational community for senior learners housed in the McGill School of Continuing Studies. The program was founded by Fiona Clark, then-assistant director of continuing studies at McGill, and drew inspiration from horizontal peer-led programs, including theHarvard Institute for Learning in Retirement.[91] Its educational model[92] is notably different from an instructor-led approach, and tasks seniors exploring educational interest as either study group moderators or participants. The program brings together hundreds of senior members yearly and has acted as a springboard for numerous senior-led initiatives such as social events, educational symposiums, and cultural festivals, including an internationally recognized yearly Bloomsday event on the life and work of author James Joyce.[93]
The university's academic units are organized into 11 main Faculties and 13 Schools.[99] These include theSchool of Architecture, theSchool of Computer Science, theSchool of Information Studies, the School of Human Nutrition, the Bensadoun School of Retail Management, the Max Bell School of Public Policy, the School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, the Ingram School of Nursing, the School of Social Work, theSchool of Urban Planning, and the Bieler School of Environment. They also include theInstitute of Islamic Studies (established in 1952), which offers graduate courses leading to the M.A. and PhD degrees.
The Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies[100] (GPS) oversees the admission and registration of graduate students (both master's and PhD).
The McGillcoat of arms is derived from an armorial device assumed during his lifetime by the founder of the University, James McGill. It was designed in 1906 byPercy Nobbs, three years into his term as director of the University'sSchool of Architecture.[101] The University's patent of arms was subsequently granted by theGarter King at Arms in 1922, registered in 1956 withLord Lyon King of Arms in Edinburgh, and in 1992 with thePublic Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada. In heraldic terms, the coat of arms is described as follows: "Argent three Martlets Gules, on a chief dancette of the second, an open book proper garnished or bearing the legendIn Domino Confido in letters Sable between two crowns of the first. Motto:Grandescunt Aucta Labore." The coat of arms consists of two parts, the shield and the scroll. The university publishes a guide to the use of the university's arms and motto.[102]
The university's symbol is themartlet, stemming from the presence of the mythical bird on the officialarms of the university. The university's official colour is scarlet, which figures prominently in theacademic dress of McGill University. McGill's motto isGrandescunt Aucta Labore,Latin for "By work, all things increase and grow" (literally, "Things grown great increase by work," that is, things that grow to be great do so by means of work). The officialschool song is entitled "Hail,Alma Mater."[103]
Exchange and study abroad
McGill maintains ties with more than 160 partner universities where students can study abroad for either one or two semesters.[104] Each year, McGill hosts around 500 incoming exchange students from over 32 countries. The university offers a multitude of activities and events to integrate students into the university's community. McGill is the home to more than 10,000 foreign students who make up of more than 27 per cent of the student population.[105]
Finances
The McGill endowment provides approximately 10 per cent of the school's annual operating revenues.[106] McGill's endowment rests within the top 10 per cent of all North American post-secondary institutions' endowments.[107] As of 2022, the endowment is valued at $2.039 billion,[108] thethird-largest endowment among Canadian universities, and remains one of the largest endowments on a per-student basis.[109]
McGill launched theCampaign McGill campaign in October 2007,[110] with the goal of raising over $750 million for the purpose of further "attracting and retaining top talent in Quebec, to increase access to quality education and to further enhance McGill's ability to address critical global problems."[111] The largest goal of any Canadian University fundraising campaign at the time,[111][112] the campaign was officially closed on June 18, 2013, having raised more than $1 billion.[113][114]Campaign McGill has since been surpassed by larger fundraising campaigns, such as theUniversity of British Columbia's $3 billionFORWARD campaign and theUniversity of Toronto's $4 billionDefy Gravity campaign.[115][116] In 2019, McGill launchedMade By McGill, a new $2 billion fundraising campaign.[117]
In 2019, McGill received a $200 million donation to fund the creation of the McCall MacBain Scholarships programme, the then-largest single philanthropic gift to a Canadian University, until it was surpassed in 2020 by a $250 million donation byJames and Louise Temerty to theUniversity of Toronto.[118][119]
Among Canadian universities, McGill undergraduates have the second highest average entering grades among high school andCEGEP students entering from their home province.[126] Among admitted students, the median Quebec CEGEPR-score was 31.9, while the median grade 12 averages for students entering McGill from outside of Quebec ranged between 93.2 per cent and 94.4 per cent (A). For American students, the medianSAT scores in the verbal, mathematics, and writing sections were 730, 730, and 730, respectively. The medianACT score was 32.[127]
Law
Due to its bilingual nature, McGill's law school does not require applicants to sit theLSAT, which is only offered in English. For students who submitted LSAT scores in the September 2019 entering class, the median LSAT score was 163 (87.8th percentile) out of a possible 180 points. Of those students who entered with a bachelor's degree, the median GPA was 86 per cent (3.8/4.0), and of those students entering from CEGEP, the average R-score was 34.29.[128]
Medicine
For medical students in the 2024 entering class, of those students who entered with a bachelor's degree, the average GPA was 3.89 out of 4.0, and of those students entering from CEGEP, the average R-score was 35.69.[129] McGill does not require applicants to its medical programme to sit theMCAT if they have an undergraduate degree from a Canadian University.[130]
MBA
In the Desautels Faculty of Management's MBA program, applicants had an averageGMAT score of 670 and an average GPA of 3.3.[131] MBA students had an average age of 28, and five years of work experience. 95 per cent of MBA students are bilingual and 60 per cent are trilingual.[132]
Teaching and learning
In the 2007–2008 school year, McGill offered over 340 academic programs in eleven faculties.[133][134] The university also offers over 250 doctoral and master's graduate degree programs. Despite strong increases in University enrolment across North America,[135] McGill has upheld a student-faculty ratio of 16:1.[136][137] There are nearly 1,600tenured or tenure-track professors teaching at the university.[138]
Tuition fees vary significantly depending on the faculties that aspiring (graduate and undergraduate) students choose as well as their citizenship. For the undergraduate faculty of the arts, tuition fees vary for in-province, out-of-province, and international students, with full-time Quebec students paying around $4,333.10[139] per year, Canadian students from other provinces paying around $9,509.30[139] per year, andinternational students paying $22,102.57–$41,815.92 per year.[140]
Since 1996, McGill, in accordance with theQuebec Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports (Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport or MELS), has had eight categories that qualifies certain international students to be excused from paying international fees. These categories include: students fromFrance andFrench-speaking Belgium, a quota of students from select countries which have agreements with MELS, which includeAlgeria, China, andMorocco,[141] students holding diplomatic status, including theirdependents, and students enrolled in certain language programs leading to a degree in French.[142]In the 2008–2009 school year, McGill's graduate business program became funded by tuition. It was the last business school in Canada to do so.[143]
For out-of-province first year undergraduate students, a high school average of 95 per cent is required to receive a guaranteed one-year entrance scholarship.[144] For renewal of previously earned scholarships, students generally need to be within the top 10 per cent of their faculty.[145] For in-course scholarships in particular, students must be within the top 5 per cent of their faculty.[146][147]
The university has joined Project Hero, a scholarship program cofounded by General (Ret'd)Rick Hillier for the families of fallenCanadian Forces members.[148] McGill is also partnered with theSTEM initiativeSchulich Leader Scholarships, awarding an $80,000 scholarship to an incoming engineering student and a $60,000 scholarship to a student pursuing a degree in science/technology/mathematics each year.[149]
Language policy
McGill is one of three English-language universities in Quebec;[150] French is not a requirement to attend.[151] The Faculty of Law does, however, require all students to be 'passively bilingual' since English or French may be used at any time.[152] The majority of students are fluent in at least two languages.[153] In 2021, about 72 percent of McGill students responding to a census conducted by the university said their level of proficiency in French was at least "intermediate".[154] In 2024, the Quebec government introduced a requirement for 80 percent of enrolled students to reach proficiency in French by graduation.[155]
Francophone students, whether from Quebec or overseas, now make up approximately 20 percent of the student body.[156] Although the language of instruction is English, since its founding McGill has allowed students to write their thesis in French, and since 1964 students in all faculties have been able to submit any graded work in either English or French, provided the objective of the class is not to learn a particular language.[157]
In 1969, thenationalistMcGill français movement demanded McGill become francophone, pro-nationalist, and pro-worker.[158] The movement was led by Stanley Gray, apolitical science professor (and possibly unaware of government plans after the 1968 legislation founding theUniversité du Québec).[159][160]A demonstration was held of 10,000 trade unionists, leftist activists, CEGEP students, and even some McGill students, at the university'sRoddick Gates on March 28, 1969. Protesters saw English as the privileged language of commerce. McGill, whereFrancophones were only three per cent of the students, could be seen as the force maintaining economic control byAnglophones of a predominantly French-speaking province.[161][162] However, the majority of students and faculty opposed such a position.[163][164]
McGill ranks first in Canada among medical-doctoral universities inMaclean's Canadian University Rankings 2026.[170] The university has held the top position in the ranking for 21 consecutive years.[171]The Globe and Mail's Canadian University Report 2019 categorized McGill as "above average" for its financial aid, student experience and research, and as "average" for its library resources.[172] Research Infosource ranked McGill second among Canadian universities with medical schools in its 2020 edition of Research Universities of the Year.[173]
In the Global University Employability Ranking 2022, published byTimes Higher Education, McGill ranked 29th in the world and second in Canada.[168]Nature ranked McGill 67th in the world and second in Canada among academic institutions for high-impact research in the 2021 edition of Nature Index.[175]
McGill'sMBA program, offered by theDesautels Faculty of Management, has appeared in several rankings.Quacquarelli Symonds, in its Global MBA Rankings 2021, ranked McGill's MBA 59th in the world and second in Canada.[176] TheFinancial Times, in its 2020 Global MBA ranking, placed the MBA programme 91st in the world and second in Canada.[177] InBloomberg BusinessWeek's Best Business Schools ranking 2019–2020, Desautels was ranked seventh in Canada.[178]
McGill is a member of theGlobal University Leaders Forum (GULF),[179] composed of the presidents of 29 of the world's top universities.[180] It is the only Canadian University member of GULF.[14] McGill is also one of only two non-American universities to be a member of theAssociation of American Universities, an organization of research-intensive universities.[181]
Research
The laboratory of Rutherford, early 20th century
McGill is affiliated with 15Nobel Laureates, and professors have won major teaching prizes. According to theAssociation of Universities and Colleges of Canada, "researchers at McGill are affiliated with about 75 major research centres and networks, and are engaged in an extensive array of research partnerships with other universities, government and industry in Quebec and Canada, throughout North America and in dozens of other countries."[182] In 2016, McGill had over $547 million of sponsored research income, the second-highest in Canada,[183] and a research intensity per faculty of $317,600, the third highest among full-service universities in Canada.[184] McGill has one of the largest patent portfolios among Canadian universities.[185] McGill's researchers are supported by theMcGill University Library, which comprises 13 branch libraries and holds over 11.5 million items.[186]
Since 1926, McGill has been a member of theAssociation of American Universities (AAU), an organization of leading research universities in North America. McGill is a founding member ofUniversitas 21, an international network of leading research-intensive universities that work together to expand their global reach and advance their plans for internationalization. McGill is one of 26 members of theGlobal University Leaders Forum (GULF), which acts as an intellectual community within theWorld Economic Forum to advise its leadership on matters relating to higher education and research. It is the only Canadian University member of GULF. McGill is also a member of theU15, a group of prominent research universities within Canada.[187]
McGill-Queen's University Press began as McGill in 1963 and amalgamated with Queen's in 1969. McGill-Queen's University Press focuses on Canadian studies and publishes the Canadian Public Administration Series.[188]
The invention of the world's first artificial cell was made byThomas Chang while an undergraduate student at the university.[190] While chair of physics at McGill, nuclear physicistErnest Rutherford performed the experiment that led to the discovery of the alpha particle and its function in radioactive decay, which won him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.[191] AlumnusJack W. Szostak was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer.[192]
Libraries, archives and museums
TheMcGill University Library comprises 12 branch libraries containing 11.5 million items in its collection.[193] Its branches include the Department of Rare Books & Special Collections, which holds about 350,000 items, including books, manuscripts, maps, prints, and a general rare book collection.[194] TheIslamic Studies Library contains over 125,000 volumes and a growing number of electronic resources covering the whole of Islamic civilization, including approximately 3,000 rare books and manuscripts.[195] TheOsler Library of the History of Medicine is the largest medical history library in Canada and one of the most comprehensive in the world.[196]
Elizabeth Wirth Music Building, also a library, sits adjacent to the old Strathcona Music Building.
The McGill University Archives – now administered as part of the McGill Library – consist of manuscripts, texts, photographs, audio-visual material, architectural records, cartographic materials, prints, drawings, microforms and artifacts.[197] In 1962 F. Cyril James declared that the newly founded McGill University Archives (MUA), while concentrating on the institutional records of McGill, had the mandate to acquire private papers of former faculty members. In the 1990s drew back their acquisition scope, and in 2004, new terms of reference on private acquisitions were introduced that included a wider McGill Community.[198]
The McGill Medical Museum catalogues, preserves, conserves and displays collections that document the study and practice of medicine at McGill University and its associated teaching hospitals. The Medical museum features collections, individual specimens, artifacts, equipment logbooks, autopsy journals, paper materials and medical instruments and apparatus, 25 wax models, 200 mostly skeletal dry specimens, and 400 lantern slides of anatomic specimens. There is a special emphasis on pathology; there are 2000 fluid-filled preserved anatomical and pathological specimens. TheOsler collection, for example, consists of 60 wet specimens, while The Abbott collection consists of 80 wet specimens, mostly examples of congenital cardiac disease.[200]
Student life
Student body
PhD candidates march at Commencement in McGill'sscarlet regalia.[201]
As of Fall 2021, McGill's student population includes 26,765undergraduate and 10,411graduate students representing diverse geographic and linguistic backgrounds. Of the entire student population, 46.8 per cent are from Quebec and 22.8 per cent are from the rest of Canada, while 30.4 per cent are from outside of Canada. International students hail from about 150 countries,[202] with many students coming from the United States, China, and France.[203][204] Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, with 19.7 per cent of the students claiming French as their mother tongue and 33.5 per cent claiming a language other than English and French, compared to 46.8 per cent who claim English as their mother tongue.[205] In Fall 2021, 34,379 students were enrolled in full-time studies, while 4,888 students enrolled in part-time studies.[203]
Student organizations
The campus has an activestudents' society represented by the undergraduate Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Post-Graduate Students' Society of McGill University (PGSS). Due to the large postdoctoral student population, the PGSS also contains a semi-autonomous Association of Postdoctoral Fellows (APF). In addition, each faculty and department has its own student governing body, the largest faculty associations being the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS).[206][207] The oldest is the Medical Students Society, founded in 1859.[208]
SSMU supports more than 250 student-run membership clubs, which range from athletics, health and wellness, arts, and culture groups to professional development, charitable, volunteer, and political associations. It offers 17 student-run services, which provide services and resources to students regardless of membership, such as the Flat Bike Collective, Black Students' Network, McGill Students'Nightline, and Queer McGill (formerly Gay McGill),[209] which has supportedqueer students since 1972.[210][211] SSMU is also affiliated with 11 independent student groups, which operate on campus but are outside of the student society's governance structure. These independent groups include student media outlets, alegal clinic,AIESEC McGill, and the International Relations Students' Association of McGill (IRSAM),[212] which publishes the world's only all-inclusive international relations research journal, theMcGill International Review,[213] and has consultative status with the UNEconomic and Social Council and theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.[214] IRSAM has hosted the McGillModel United Nations for University students since 1990 and the Secondary Schools United Nations Symposium since 1993.[215]
Many student clubs are centred around McGill's student union building, the University Centre. In 1992, students held areferendum calling for the University Centre to be renamed for actor and McGill alumnusWilliam Shatner.[216] The university administration refused to accept the name and did not attend the opening because it traditionally names buildings in honour of deceased community members or majorbenefactors—Shatner is neither. Nevertheless, the University Centre has been informally referred to as the Shatner Building ever since.[217][218]
Student media
McGill has a number of student-run publications.The McGill Daily, first published in 1911, was previously published twice weekly,[219] but shifted to a once-a-week publication schedule in September 2013 due to tightened budgets.[220] TheDélit français is theDaily's French-language counterpart. The combined circulation of both papers is over 28,000.[219] TheMcGill Tribune currently publishes once a week, circulating approximately 11,000 copies across campus.The Bull & Bear, operating under the Management Undergraduate Society, publishes 1,000 copies each month.[221]CKUT (90.3 FM) is the campus radio station.TVMcGill is the University TV station, broadcasting on closed-circuit television and over the internet.[222]
TheGreek system at McGill consists of several fraternities and sororities. Canada's only national fraternity, Phi Kappa Pi, was founded at McGill and the University of Toronto in 1913 and continues to be active. McGill was also chosen as the first University to expand to outside of the United States for several Greek letter organizations, for instance, with the Québec Alpha chapter of Phi Delta Theta in 1902.[224] The Greek letter organizations at McGill are governed by the Inter-Greek Letter Council, the school's second-largest student group.[225] Over 500 students or approximately 2 per cent of the student population are in sororities and fraternities at McGill, on a par with most Canadian schools but below the average for American universities.[226][227]
McGill is represented inU Sports by theMcGill Redbirds and Martlets with the Redbirds representing men's teams and the Martlets representing women's teams. McGill is currently home to 28 varsity teams.
McGill is known for its strong baseball, hockey and lacrosse programs.[228][229] McGill's unique mascot, Marty theMartlet, was introduced during the 2005 Homecoming game.[230]
The downtown McGill campus sport and exercise facilities include: the McGill Sports Centre (which includes the Tomlinson Fieldhouse and the Windsor Varsity Clinic),[231]Molson Stadium, Memorial Pool, Tomlinson Hall, McConnell Arena, Forbes Field, many outdoortennis courts and otherextra-curricular arenas and faculties.[232]
The Macdonald Campus facilities include anarena, a gymnasium, apool, tennis courts,fitness centres and hundreds of acres of green space for regular use.[233] The university's largest sporting venue, Molson Stadium, was constructed in 1914. Following an expansion project completed in 2010, it now seats just over 25,000,[234] and is the current home field of theMontreal Alouettes.[235]
In the sciences, McGill graduates and faculty have received a total of 15 Nobel Prizes in disciplines ranging from Physiology, Medicine, Economics, Chemistry and Physics. McGill has also produced five astronauts out of 14 total selected in theCSA's history.[242] Other prominent science alumni include the inventor of theartificial cellThomas Chang,[243] inventor of theinternet search engineAlan Emtage,[244] and inventor of the explosives vapour detector (EVD-1)Lorne Elias.[245]
^abcFrost, Stanley Brice.McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, 1801–1895. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1980.ISBN978-0-7735-0353-3
^Crawford, DS.Montreal, medicine and William Leslie Logie: McGill's first graduate and Canada's first medical graduate. 175th. anniversary. Osler Library Newsletter # 109, 2008[1]Archived November 13, 2018, at theWayback Machine
^"Department History". McGill University Health Centre, Montreal. August 13, 2005. Archived from the original on January 13, 2009. RetrievedJanuary 13, 2009.
^Keller, Lucy (November 20, 2018)."Student Life - Winter prep 101".The McGill Tribune.Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 17, 2022.many McGill buildings are connected so that students can stay inside in between classes and avoid low temperatures during the school day.
^"Percy Erskine Nobbs Biography".McGill John Bland Canadian Architecture Collection – The Architecture of Percy Erskine Nobbs.Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2014.
^Chang, Thomas M. S.; Poznansky, Mark J. (1968). "Semipermeable aqueous microcapsules (artificial cells). V. Permeability characteristics".Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.2 (2):187–199.doi:10.1002/jbm.820020202.PMID5707843.
^ab"Enrolment reports".Enrolment Services. McGill University.Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. RetrievedMarch 25, 2020.
^"International Student Body".McGill | International Student Services. April 2, 2022.Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. RetrievedApril 2, 2022.
^"Quick facts".McGill | About McGill. April 2, 2022.Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. RetrievedApril 2, 2022.
^"About the AUS".Arts Undergraduate Society of McGill University. July 2, 2015.Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. RetrievedNovember 29, 2015.
^"About SSUNS". SSUNS.Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. RetrievedMarch 25, 2020.
^Where we areArchived 2008-04-10 at theWayback Machine, SSMUThe William Shatner University Centre is located at 3480 McTavish Street, on the west side of the McGill campus
^"Frank F. Wesbrook fonds"(PDF). University of British Columbia Archives.Archived(PDF) from the original on February 17, 2022. RetrievedDecember 29, 2021.
Axelrod, Paul. "McGill University on the Landscape of Canadian Higher Education: Historical Reflections." Higher Education Perspectives 1 (1996–97).
Coleman, Brian. "McGill, British Columbia." McGill Journal of Education 6, no. 2 (Autumn 1976).
Collard, Andrew.The McGill You Knew: An Anthology of Memories, 1920–1960. Toronto: Longman Canada, 1975.
Frost, Stanley B.The History of McGill in Relation to the Social, Economic and Cultural Aspects of Montreal and Quebec (Montreal: McGill University. 1979).
Frost, Stanley B.McGill University: For the Advancement of Learning. Vol I. (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press 1980)ISBN978-0-7735-0353-3
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