Astronauts

McGill graduates are ambassadors for Montreal and Canada, whether they’re on Earth and off. Three McGill graduates have travelled to the International Space Station as astronauts with the Canadian Space Agency: Julie Payette (BEng’86, DSc’03), Robert Thirsk (MDCM’82) and Dave Williams (BSc’76, MDCM’83, MSc’83, DSc’07). A fourth grad, David Saint-Jacques (MedResident ’07) is scheduled to blast off in 2018.

And, of course, there’s Earth’s most storied spaceman, who explored the furthest reaches of the galaxy without ever leaving a Hollywood soundstage: Captain James T. Kirk. (But his 1952 McGill diploma reads “William Shatner.”)