Funding minds and matter

Renovation to help Psychiatry Department attract new researchers

"One of the things I thought about when I was a young man studying particle physics at McGill was, 'How does matter create thought?'" recalls Irving Ludmer, a 1957 engineering physics alumnus, long-time executive with the Steinberg grocery chain and now president of Cleman Ludmer Steinberg Inc.

Though it would seem quite a leap from particle physics to psychiatry, Mr. Ludmer's interest in both disciplines helped shape his decision, 40 years later, to give $3 million toward much-needed renovations in McGill University's Department of Psychiatry that will enhance the matter of labs and offices in ways immeasurably conducive to creating thought.

"We're in a 43-year-old building that has hardly been touched on the inside," said Dr. Joel Paris, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. "This will make it a more attractive building for recruits and produce a better climate for research."

The investment will transform psychiatry at McGill by improving research and work space for current and future clinicians. "I studied at McGill, it's a great university and it's the medical faculty that has really led the way in enhancing its recognition beyond Montreal and outside Canada," he said. "And I think psychiatry is an area where McGill can excel."

The renovations, which have already begun, are expected to take two years. They will include new ventilation systems, improved fire-exit pathways and general renovation of laboratories and offices throughout the research and training facility on Pine Avenue West.

For more information on McGill's Department of Psychiatry: www.medicine.mcgill.ca/psychiatry