McGill launches “Best in the West” student award program

Alumni Dr. Richard and Carolina J. Walls give $1 million in science scholarship support for Western Canadians

Calgary residents and McGill University alumni Dr. Richard and Carolina J. Walls have pledged $1 million to launch a new award program – The Best in the West – aimed at helping qualified undergraduate students from Western Canada attend McGill.

The funds will be used to endow the Dr. Richard and Carolina J. Walls Best in the West Scholarships in Science.

Dr. Walls (PhD'78) is Chairman of Fairborne Energy Ltd. He and his wife, Carolina (BSc'85), are encouraging other Canadians to contribute to The Best in the West, an awards program with a $5-million goal to provide support to students from Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

“Approximately 2,000 students from Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan – the best in the West – are currently enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs at McGill,” McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum told a group of McGill alumni in Calgary, where the new scholarships were announced April 30. “[But] access and enrolment to post-secondary education remain critical issues.”

The success of the “Best in the West” program will make it possible for more outstanding students to obtain a McGill education, she said.

McGill, Canada’s leading university, announced earlier this week that its Campaign McGill fundraising effort has just exceeded $400 million. The goal of the five-year campaign, launched last fall, is to raise $750 million toward the University’s top academic priorities.