He chose to leave Baltimore, Maryland for McGill on a whim. She came from a McGill family – her father was a physics professor at the time. They met at a dance in Molson Hall, and they’ve spent their lives together ever since.
Today Roger North, BSc’70, BA’75, DipEd’77, MA’79, and Susan Sharp, BA’70, both call Baltimore home, but they haven’t forgotten their time at McGill. “It was an exciting time to be a student,” says North. “McGill really opened up the world for me.”
From campus they witnessed the civil rights movement, anti-war movement, and Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. In the classroom they encountered luminaries such as anthropologist Margaret Mead, Nobel-prizewinning molecular biologist Francis Crick, writer Margaret Laurence, and poet W. H. Auden.
North became close to Canadian history professor John Herd Thompson, whom he considered “both a mentor and a friend,” and Sharp can still vividly recall a lecture on World War II by European history professor Robert Vogel. “We were so fortunate to have those experiences,” says Sharp.
Sharp became a nurse, and North went into teaching and radiology; both credit the University for their success. “My honours degree in literature proved to be very relevant,” says Sharp. “My research experience really prepared me for studying medicine.” “I’m very happy to say that I’m a McGill graduate,” says North. “It was an enlightening experience, and it had a big impact on our lives.”
The couple gives back generously; they are longtime annual donors, and they’ve arranged a legacy gift – a bequest in their will to McGill – that will provide financial aid for international students. “We’ve been fortunate in life, and we feel that McGill is a good place to put our investments to use. It’s such a fabulous institute for study.”
The couple hopes to inspire more alumni to consider giving back to McGill, particularly their fellow Americans. “In the U.S. there is more of a culture of helping to finance your university. If everyone was willing to give, big or small, McGill can maintain its stature as a top school. I would really encourage all grads to come forward – everything counts.”
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