After her husband’s death, Corrine Propas Parver (DipPTh’64, BPhysTher’66) thought a lot about his life. Dr. Leonard Parver (BSc’66, MDCM’70), who passed away in 2023, was a successful ophthalmologist. An innovator in retinal detachment, he established eye trauma clinics and was well loved in Washington where he practised.
Those thoughts had her feeling thankful for the opportunities her American-born husband was given as an undergrad, med student and resident at McGill.
“He achieved so much success in his chosen field. But it goes back to the influence of being at McGill for all those years. And I wanted to make sure that would be remembered.”
She turned that gratitude into an annual scholarship, the Dr. Leonard M. Parver Support Fund for Ophthalmology Residents.
The exercise of setting up the gift also had the Montreal-born Propas Parver thinking about her own path, going from a McGill physical therapy student in the early ‘60s to a successful lawyer specializing in health policy.
“I thought to myself, ‘Shouldn’t I do something for what McGill meant to me and how it was so crucial in where I ended up?’”
And she did, establishing the Corrine Propas Parver Graduation Prize in Physical Therapy, an annual award given to an outstanding physical therapy student.
The Parvers met at McGill. Their first date fell on the ill-fated day of November 22, 1963. They were planning to meet up at an American Thanksgiving dinner at one of the student residences, but the two would end up joining the group to grieve the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
“I was at the hairdresser’s when the news came about President Kennedy. And of course, the party was cancelled,” she recalls. “It was a very sad first date.”
The couple would continue seeing each other, as Len pursued his medical studies and Corrine completed her diploma in 1964 and, after a new degree program was launched the next year, earned her bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy in 1966.
The two married in 1967 and, two years later, had their first child, David [Dr. David L. Parver, who followed in Len’s footsteps and became an ophthalmologist]. In 1970, Len graduated from McGill’s medical school and then had the opportunity to attend Stanford University in California for a special course for ophthalmology residencies.
The McGill funding was a godsend for the young family struggling with finances. “The only reason we were able to go there was because he was awarded a fellowship, which gave us enough money to travel to California and back and stay there for three months.”
The trio returned in 1971, and Len began a residency in McGill’s Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.
Meanwhile, Corrine was practising physiotherapy and becoming active with the profession’s provincial organization, of which she was eventually elected president. Quebec was transforming its health associations into professional orders, and the work took her to the National Assembly, where she was surprised to see how little the legislators knew about health care.
“These were the people responsible for allocating financial resources for health care, and they didn’t know what it meant to treat patients.”
Working with lawyers and helping to draft legislation on ethics and professionalism had her contemplating pursuing law, but she would have to wait, as the couple were hoping to have a second child. She would continue to practise physiotherapy—in Washington, where the family settled—and gave birth to a daughter, Deborah, in 1974 [Deborah Parver Oremland, Esq.]. Five years later, when Deborah entered kindergarten, Corrine entered law school.
The couple found success in Washington. Len eventually set up six eye clinics and was also Professor of Ophthalmology at Georgetown University, published extensively and was named a member of the prestigious American Ophthalmological Society. Corrine’s years in health law saw her representing doctors and other healthcare providers in policy and regulatory areas, working mostly with Medicare, the US federal health insurance program for seniors, and educating the government on various issues, which had her speaking to congressional panels.
Corrine says she would like the two awards she set up at McGill to be used to inspire other graduates, who might also be feeling as blessed as she does, to donate to the university.
“I want them to see that you don’t get where you are on your own. You need to have the educational credentials to be able to succeed and, as a result, you owe something back.”
The inaugural Dr. Leonard M. Parver scholarship was awarded in 2024 to Year-1 resident Dr. Farida El Malt (BCom'18, MDCM'24). The inaugural Corrine Propas Parver Graduation Prize in Physical Therapy was awarded in 2025 to Elisa D'Amore (BSc'23, MSc'25).