Ingrid Birker - Women in Science at McGill
The James McGill Society and Sigma Xi McGill-Montreal Chapter Presents
The Maysie MacSporran Annual Lecture
Women in Science at McGill
Ingrid Birker
From early figures like Harriet Brooks and Maude Abbott to the present, women have been playing an increasingly prominent role in Science at McGill.
Ingrid Birker is Science Outreach Program Administrator, Faculty of Science, and is particularly well known for public education and programs at the Redpath Museum.
ALL ARE WELCOME
The Maysie MacSporran Annual Lecture
Born into an established Montreal family, Maysie MacSporran (1903-2000) was educated at McGill University. In 1930, assisted by a scholarship from the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, she received an M.A. in History for her ground-breaking study of James McGill.
For many years she taught at a local private school, Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s, eventually becoming its Head Mistress. A long-time member of the James McGill Society, attending its functions and asking pertinent questions well into her nineties, Miss MacSporran was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in 1993. In addition to establishing such things as a series of Fellowships in the Faculty of Medicine, her gifts to the University permitted the Society to institute, in 2001, the Maysie MacSporran Annual Lecture, thereby ensuring that her memory will continue into perpetuity.
Maysie MacSporran was a well-known and respected figure, with a wide circle of friends, who will long be cherished for her forthright and friendly manner, and generosity of spirit.
JAMES McGILL SOCIETY: One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Meeting
Monday, February 9, 2015
Reception: 5:00 p.m. in the Redpath Museum Auditorium.
Presentation: 5:45 p.m.
Illustration: The second group of five women to graduate from McGill in 1889. Maude Abbott, who went on to become Canada’s leading cardiologist, is in the back row, right side. The photo was taken at Notman Photographic Studios and is now held as part of the McCord Museum.