Director 1972 - 1984
Nova Scotian born, William Feindel (1918-2014) studied at Acadia University and Dalhousie University before taking his medical degree at McGill University. A Rhodes Scholar, he received a D. Phil. from Oxford University in 1949. He completed his surgical residency at the Montreal Neurological Institute. He founded the Neurosurgical Department at the University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1955. Four years later, he returned to the MNI, where he became the first William Cone Professor of Neurosurgery. He succeeded Theodore Rasmussen as MNI Director in 1972. During his twelve years as director, Feindel introduced the first CAT and MRI units in Canada and installed Canada's first PET system using a miniature cyclotron. During his tenure, the MNI expanded with new facilities to house the McConnell Brain Imaging Centre. Feindel was the official curator of the Wilder Penfield Archive and was the MNI's historian. Among his distinctions are membership in the Order of Canada, the Royal Society of Canada and the National Order of Quebec. He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2003.
