The late Daphne Trasler, BSc’48, MSc’54, PhD’58, a retired McGill professor and researcher in the Department of Biology, has left a generous legacy gift to the Faculty of Science.
Dr. Trasler spent her entire research career at McGill. With expertise in genetics and embryology, she is best known for her seminal work on birth defects – including cleft palate, cleft lip, and neural tube closure defects. Several of her studies produced observations that are the foundations on which current understandings of common human birth defects are built.
“She clearly loved her research career,” says her daughter, Dr. Jacquetta Trasler. “Her accomplishments came at a time when women with independent scientific research careers were relatively rare, and there were few women scientist role models for her to emulate.”
Dr. Trasler conducted her research while supervising graduate students and teaching undergraduate courses in developmental genetics, teratology, and birth defects. She was also a founding member and past president of the Teratology Society, now known as the Society for Birth Defects Research.
She and her surviving husband Frank Trasler, BEng’48, Dip.Management’58, met at McGill as undergraduates. They were married for nearly 70 years and had two children, Jacquetta, MDCM’80, PhD’87 – a Distinguished James McGill Professor in Pediatrics, Human Genetics and Pharmacology & Therapeutics – and Tessa, BSc’81, MSc’87, now retired from a scientific career in the pharmaceutical industry.
Frank and Daphne Trasler at McGill convocation in 1948.
Frank and Daphne Trasler in the 2010s.
“There are quite a few women who are scientists in the family, and that is my mother’s influence,” says Jacquetta. Both of her daughters – Daphne’s granddaughters – work in science: Madeleine Genest is a pharmacist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC); and Dr. Geneviève Genest, BSc’06, is an Assistant Professor in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, a Director of Reproductive Immunology within the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the MUHC, and a PhD candidate.
“McGill was a special place for my parents,” says Tessa. “They met there, made lifelong friends and colleagues, and they benefited from training at McGill that contributed to careers they loved.”
The couple made annual donations to their respective faculties, and also arranged a joint legacy gift – a charitable gift annuity – that will be evenly split to support both Science and Engineering. A charitable gift annuity is an arrangement under which a donor gifts a lump sum to a non-profit; they receive an immediate tax receipt and steady guaranteed payments, which may be tax-free.
“The charitable gift annuity is really a win-win arrangement,” said Frank Trasler shortly after the gift was established. “It benefits us and it benefits McGill, so what’s not to like.” Daphne agreed, saying, “McGill has given us a lot to be grateful for. It’s been such a large part of our lives, so donating was an easy decision.”
Dr. Trasler retired from McGill in 1995, and passed away last summer after a full life and a brief illness. In lieu of flowers, supporters were encouraged to donate to McGill University or the MUHC. “McGill is a wonderful cause,” says Tessa, and knowing that her parents’ philanthropy will support future McGill initiatives is “inspiring. Anything that will support McGill to be more successful is worthwhile.”
The University is grateful to Daphne and Frank Trasler for their lifetime of support and contributions to McGill’s academic and alumni community.
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