Supporting Young Innovators

Les and Judy Vadasz with their sons, Dave (left) and Jeff. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE VADASZ FAMILY)

He arrived in Montreal in February 1957 after the Hungarian revolution. “I had to quickly learn the language and the country,” says Les Vadasz, BEng’61, DSc’07. “And McGill did its part to educate and integrate this new immigrant.” McGill provided intensive language training and forgave his first year, accepting him into second year engineering.

“It was a wonderful learning experience,” Vadasz recalls. A highlight for him was a summer job as a lab assistant preparing physics experiments for newer students. “It’s always good to re-do basic experiments to refresh your mind. So, the job contributed to my learning and my finances!”

Vadasz’s career led him to Silicon Valley, where he became a member of Intel’s founding management team in 1968. During his 35- year career at Intel, he had many roles. In the early years, he led the engineering activities which created the memory and microprocessor products that are the foundation of today’s computer business. In his later years, Vadasz was President of Intel Capital, the largest corporate strategic venture program among high-tech companies, supporting hundreds of start-up businesses.

Now, through a gift of more than $8-million from the Vadasz Family Foundation, he is continuing to back emerging innovators. The Vadasz Doctoral Fellowships in Engineering will support at least 15 outstanding doctoral students each year at McGill’s Faculty of Engineering. This is the largest donation to date from outside Canada to Campaign McGill. “It’s a group activity,” Vadasz says of his family foundation, which includes his wife, Judy Vadasz, as well their two sons and their niece. “We try to make our decisions based on rigour and compassion – both are needed,” he explains. Most of their giving is related to education, with a focus on k–12, and Mrs. Vadasz is a strong advocate of arts education.

“Dr. and Mrs. Vadasz have already had a powerful impact on our students with their leadership giving for many years,” says Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum. “We are deeply grateful they continue to show their faith in McGill – and in the importance of graduate education – with this extraordinary gift.”

For her part, Mrs. Vadasz says: “The more we learn about McGill, the more impressed we are. We feel great trust in the way our gift will be used.” Vadasz adds: “We look back on what were the important signposts in our lives, and McGill was definitely one of them. This is just our way of saying thank you.”

Allyson Rowley, BA’77