1939-1960

Sir Arthur Currie Gymnasium opened, and the first director of women’s physical education was appointed.

Total student enrolment: 3,286

McGill String Quartet, later McGill Chamber Orchestra, was founded.

McGill Associates was established to welcome business professionals without previous McGill connections.

WORLD WAR II 

6,298 men and women served with the Armed and Auxiliary Forces; 287 gave their lives.

The headquarters of the International Labour Organization moved from Geneva, Switzerland, to the McGill campus.

McGill acquired Stoneycroft Farm at Ste. Anne de Bellevue, part of which became the Morgan Arboretum.

F. CYRIL JAMES LLD’62, Eleventh Principal and Vice-Chancellor, 1940-1962

Research Institute of Endocrinology established.

Department of Radiology created.

Allan Memorial Institute of Psychiatry was established.

School of Physiotherapy established.

MORRIS W. WILSON LLD’43, Seventh Chancellor, 1943-1946

Otto Hahn, who had worked at McGill with Rutherford, was awarded a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Department of Geography established.

J.W. McConnell Scholarships established.

Special McGill Convocation at Quebec City to confer degrees on Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Student enrolment rose from 3,933 in the spring of 1945 to 8,237 during 1946-47 a 150% increase over pre-war registration.

Wilson Hall, former Methodist College, opened as a residence for men.

Peterson Residences at Lachine was set up to provide accommodation for married veteran students.

Foster Radiation Laboratory opened, with the first cyclotron in Canada and the second-largest in the world.

Department of Chemical Engineering established.

Beatty Hall was given to the University in memory of Sir Edward Beatty.

McGill created full-time Chairs of Surgery at the Royal Victoria and Montreal General hospitals.

Cornerstone laid for the War Memorial Swimming Pool, financed by subscriptions from graduates.

The Friends of McGill University is incorporated in the United States.

Student enrolment: 8,239; 60% of the male students were veterans and 3,038 individuals were housed in student residences.

Extension to Macdonald Engineering Building completed.

Arts Building East Wing was reconstructed and named Dawson Hall.

Mclntyre Park was given to the University by the family of Duncan Mclntyre.

Chancellor Day Hall was given to the University by J.W. McConnell to house the Faculty of Law.

Donner Building for Medical Research given by W.H. Donner.

Memorial Hall opened, at the Currie Gym.

Industrial Relations Centre established.

Memorial tablet to Sir Wilfrid Laurier BCL’64 unveiled at Molson Hall (West Wing, Arts Building).

ORVILLE S. TYNDALE BA'08, MA'09, BCL'15, DCL’47, Eighth Chancellor, (and first McGill graduate to hold the office), 1947-1952

Creation of the Faculty of Divinity and transfer of Divinity Hall to the University.

Radio-isotope laboratories were established.

Alma Mater Fund was inaugurated by the Graduates' Society.

East Wing of the Royal Victoria College, including the Garfield-Weston Pool, opened.

Eaton Electronics Research Laboratory opened, a gift from Lady Eaton LLD’50.

Physical Sciences Centre (now Frank Dawson Adams Building) completed, including reconstruction of Macdonald Chemistry and Physics buildings.

Institute of Air and Space Law established.

Neurochemistry Laboratories endowed by W.H. Donner.

The government of Canada enacted legislation to provide federal grants to universities.

McGill Association of University Teachers founded

McConnell Wing of the Montreal Neurological Institute opened.

University Medical Clinic was established in the Montreal General Hospital.

Institute of Islamic Studies established.

BERTIE CHARLES GARDNER LLD’52, Ninth Chancellor, 1952-1957

Redpath Hall was created out of the reading room of the old Library.

McGill Sub-Arctic Laboratory was established at Schefferville, Quebec.

Bellairs Research Institute was established in Barbados.

McConnell Winter Stadium is completed.

RAY EDWIN POWELL LLD’56, Tenth Chancellor, 1957-1964

“My Fur Lady,” student satire, for the annual Red and White Review, toured the country.

One in four McGill undergraduates enrolled in Engineering.

James H. Brace Bequest led to the establishment at the Macdonald Campus of the interdisciplinary Brace Institute.

McConnell Engineering Building completed.

Laird Hall, an additional residence for women students at Macdonald College, was completed.

First Canadian electronic music concert held at McGill.

Mont St. Hilaire was bequeathed to the University by Brigadier Hamilton Gault.

Jacobsen-McGill Arctic Expedition to Axel Heiberg Island, latitude 80° north.

McGill acquired its first mainframe computer, to provide services for University administration and research, and a Computer Centre was opened.

Peterson Hall was purchased from the Montreal Protestant School Board.

Department of Meteorology created.

Quebec enacted legislation providing statutory grants to universities, including McGill.

Presbyterian College buildings, including Morrice Hall, purchased