I was born in 1954 to a family of Jewish immigrants that had arrived in Montreal in 1936 from Poland and Russia. To say we didn't have a lot of money would be very polite. I grew up in Côte-des-Neiges in a three-storey brownstone walk-up. Our apartment was so small that you’d walk in and hit the back end of it.
My father was a factory worker, during the day – a dress cutter – and, by night, he would sell newspapers on Montreal streets. My mother was a homemaker. It’s not like I had these huge prospects ahead of me. But my parents did want a better life for their kids and always encouraged me to do whatever I want, but to try to be successful.
Getting into McGill, and then McGill Med, changed my life. A kid coming from a very poor background, to be able to go through medical school at McGill, and all that comes with it, allowed me to have this incredible career. Without McGill, it never would have happened.
When McGill trains you, it trains you superbly. I was involved in medical education in the US for the majority of my career but there's just no comparison with what I see and the education I got from McGill.
McGill has a massive reputation in the world. I moved to the US to become a senior health care executive and I've always been convinced that my coming from McGill gave me enormous credibility. McGill has always been a university with a great reputation in research and some huge names in the world of medicine. Scientific curiosity was bred in to me and McGill gave me a thirst for research.
When my parents died, I created a bursary to give back. I plan to make a much bigger donation because without McGill who knows what would have happened to me.
McGill did change my life.