I came to McGill in 1981 with a post-graduate stipend from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to study for my MSc. From my first meeting at the School of Computer Science in Burnside Hall to graduation in 1983, I felt welcome and at the same time challenged to bring out the best of me.
In my second year, I was a tutor for undergraduate students. My thesis advisor, Prof. Tim Merrett, gave me the opportunity to publish my research in an article on “Relational Storage and Processing of Two-Dimensional Diagrams” in 1985. We have remained friends to this day.
In 2005, I became Co-Chair of the McGill Alumni Association (MAA) of Germany with Madeline Cathcart-Bohr, BA’71. In 2019, we both received the MAA’s Robert Fung International Award of Distinction for our volunteer work. And this year I am planning to come to McGill to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Science on October 1st.