A celebration of Alfred Bader

No one has left a more enduring legacy at Queen’s University than the late Alfred R. Bader (BSc’45, BA’46, Msc’47, LLD’86) who, along with the late Isabel Bader (LLD’07) and Bader Philanthropies, Inc., has transformed the university through giving. Among the countless contributions of Dr. Bader and his family are the gifts of priceless artworks including paintings by Rembrandt, the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, Herstmonceux Castle Estate in England, which is now the home of Bader College, endowed academic chairs in multiple departments, scholarship and fellowship funds for students, and, recently, a US$75 million gift to reimagine and reconstruct the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s.

Now, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of his birth, a team of students from the Queen’s University International Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society (Q-ACS) is leading an effort to celebrate Dr. Bader with a symposium in his honour.

Celebrating the Late Dr. Alfred R. Bader: A 100th Birthday Symposium will take place November 18th at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts and will feature speakers and performers who exemplify the remarkable impact Dr. Bader has had on the arts, science, student learning, and more. They will come from departments across Queen’s as well as other institutions from Canada and the United States. The plenary address for the symposium will be given by Daniel J. Bader, President and CEO of Bader Philanthropies, Inc. and son of Dr. Alfred Bader. He will be speaking about his father, his father’s ongoing legacy, and his own work with Bader Philanthropies as a guest of the university through the Brockington Visitorship.

The date for the symposium is meaningful because it comes shortly after Nov. 15th, the day the young Alfred Bader arrived on Queen’s campus for the first time to begin his studies in 1941.

“Dr. Bader’s story is remarkable and inspiring, from his escape from Nazi Germany to his scientific prominence and business acumen to his incredible philanthropic efforts,” says Max van Zyl, master’s student in chemistry, Q-ACS Vice-President, and an organizer of the symposium, who was an Alfred Bader Scholar in Chemistry while completing his undergraduate studies at Queen’s. “With his 100th birthday happening this year, we wanted to do something as students to honour the impact he has had on so many of us as well as many others in the Queen’s community and beyond. Since Dr. Bader was driven by his passions for both the arts and science, we knew that the symposium had to be centred around these two interests.”

With that goal in mind, the Q-ACS team worked to assemble a group of keynote speakers that testify to the breadth of Dr. Bader’s influence on these two areas. To address Dr. Bader’s enduring legacy in the field of chemistry, they reached outside the Queen’s community to invite R. David Britt from the University of California Davis and Rik Tykwinski of the University of Alberta, who are both 2023 recipients of awards for chemists named in honour of Dr. Bader. They will be joined by P. Andrew Evans, the Bader Chair in Organic Chemistry at Queen’s.

From the fields of art history, art conservation, and curation, there will be five speakers at the symposium who hold or retired from positions endowed by Dr. Bader. Tanya Paul will be coming from the Milwaukee Art Museum, where she is the Isabel and Alfred Bader Curator of European Art, to present at the symposium’s exhibition and performance session. Aaron Shugar, Bader Chair in Art Conservation, Stephanie Dickey, who recently retired as Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art, and Gauvin Bailey, Bader Chair in Southern Baroque Art, will be speaking from the Queen’s Department of Art History & Art Conservation. And Suzanne van de Meerendonk, who is the Bader Curator of European Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, will be presenting as well.    

“It is an honour to have these prominent chemists, art historians, art conservationists, and curators speaking at the symposium, as these individuals embody Dr. Bader’s immense contributions to those fields,” says Dan Reddy, Vanier Graduate Scholar in Chemistry, Q-ACS Founder and President, and an organizer of the symposium. “Even those who are traveling long distances were very enthusiastic about participating when we reached out to them. Further, within the Queen’s community, we have received so much incredible support from many individuals, departments, and groups who want to help celebrate Dr. Bader. This symposium has truly been a community effort.”

One example of the campus-wide support that the Q-ACS students have received is from the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, which donated its space and staff to the symposium for the entire day.

In addition to the keynote speakers, there will be numerous poster presentations and lectures by students who have been impacted or inspired by Dr. Bader’s legacy at Queen’s and other institutions, including the Royal Military College of Canada and the University of Toronto. A series of speakers will be graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, some of whom have received scholarships or fellowships endowed by Dr. Bader.

The event is open to the entire community and is free to attend. Learn more about the symposium’s program, which also includes musical performances and a presentation on Dr. Bader’s experiences during the Second World War, and how to register for the event on the Q-ACS website.

Read more about Dr. Bader's story and legacy on the Queen's Alumni Review.

This story originally appeared in The Gazette.