Nov. 15, 1941, a young student arrived on campus for the first time to begin his studies. It was the beginning of a historic relationship that would eventually transform Queen's.
That was the day the university's most prominent and generous supporter, Alfred Bader, BSc'45, BA'46, Msc'47, LLD'86, arrived. He was greeted by University Registrar Jean Royce and Professor Arthur Jackson showed him around campus.
Bader's journey to Queen's was a difficult one.
In 1938, the Austrian Jew of Czech descent was sent to England under the Kindertransport program, which removed thousands of Jewish children from Germany and German-annexed countries. In 1940, he was deported to Canada, where he was detained in an internment camp in southern Quebec. Bader was released from the camp in the fall of 1941 thanks to Martin Wolff, a Montreal journalist and historian, who sponsored Alfred and took the teenager under his wing.
"I was a free man, I had been welcomed into a Canadian family and had been accepted by a prestigious Canadian university," he recalled in his autobiography. "I was determined to do my best."
Alfred Bader went on to launch one of the world's top chemical companies and become a treasured friend to Queen's.
Along with numerous scholarships, bursaries and research chairs, he also helped fund the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in honour of his beloved wife, Isabel Overton Bader, LLD'07, his philanthropic partner and inspiration. He also donated a 15th-century castle in England, now known as Bader College, and the Bader Collection at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the most comprehensive collection of authenticated paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn and his circle in any Canadian institution.
Nov. 15, 2021, which marked the 80th anniversary of Alfred Bader's arrival on our campus, was declared "Bader Day."
Now, every year on this day, we join together as a community to give thanks for the impact of the Bader family's unparalleled generosity, which spans decades and continents, and illustrates the power of philanthropy to contribute to a better world.
His sons David and Daniel have chosen, through their family foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Inc., to continue their father's philanthropic legacy at Queen's.
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