Killam Trusts
The Killam Trusts were established in 1965 after the death of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam, the wife of Izaak Walton Killam. Mr. Killam was a Canadian business figure. He died in 1955, but before his death he and his wife discussed in extensive detail a scholarship plan, on which the Killam Trusts were founded. When Mr. Killam died intestate in 1955, half of his estate went to found the Canada Council (along with similar funds from the estate of Sir James Dunn, also from the Maritimes). The rest of Mr. Killam's estate was left to his widow, Dorothy J. Killam. In the ten years between his death and hers, she doubled their money. Upon her death (at her villa in France - Villa Leopolda), her lawyer Donald N. Byers, QC put into motion the plans Mr. and Mrs. Killam had discussed during their joint lifetimes. Having no children of their own, the Killams decided to leave their sizable fortune to further post-secondary education in Canada at the graduate level.
The Killam benefactions went to five Canadian universities: University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University and Dalhousie University. The Canada Council for the Arts also received Killam funds. The Council's Killam Research Fellowships are open to professors from all Canadian universities. The Council's $100,000 Killam Prizes in Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Social Sciences and Humanities, recognize lifetime contributions.
In the words of Mrs. Killam's will:
- "My purpose in establishing the Killam Trusts is to help in the building of Canada's future by encouraging advanced study. Thereby I hope, in some measure, to increase the scientific and scholastic attainments of Canadians, to develop and expand the work of Canadian universities, and to promote sympathetic understanding between Canadians and the peoples of other countries."
Many students who have received Killam scholarships have gone on to be leaders in their fields.
In addition, the four Trustees to the Killam Trusts hold an annual conference every fall to meet with representatives from each of the Killam institutions to discuss scholarship related concerns, as well as ways to ensure the continued success of Canadian Graduate Studies. Immediately following the conference the Killam Trusts hold an annual public lecture. The purpose of the lecture is to stimulate public support of pre- and post-doctoral education in Canada and to encourage other wealthy people to make bequests similar to that of the Killams.
The current four Trustees are Mr. George T.H. Cooper, CM, QC, LLD, of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Mr. John H. Matthews, LLD of Toronto, Ontario; Mrs. M. Ann McCaig, CM, AOE, LLD, of Calgary, Alberta; and John S. Montalbano, CFA, of Vancouver, British Columbia. A complete listing of the Killam Lecturers, as well as copies of their lectures can be found on the Killam Trusts website.
Further reading
- Canada's Mystery Man of High Finance, Douglas How, Hantsport: Lancelot Press, 1986. ISBN 0-88999-305-X
- A Very Private Person - The story of Izaak Walton Killam and his Wife Dorothy, Douglas How, Halifax: Dalhousie University Graphics Services, 2004. Originally published Trustees Estate Dorothy J. Killam (1976)