Killam Trusts
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The Killam Trusts were established in 1965 after the death of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam, the wife of Izaak Walton Killam, a 20th century Canadian business figure. Mr. Killam 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 Nova Scotia). The rest of Mr. Killam's estate was left to his widow, Dorothy J. Killam. In the ten years between his passing and hers she doubled their money. Upon her death (at her villa in France - La 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 Lecture. Invited Lecturers are from the upper echelon of academic circles and the topics vary greatly.
External link
Further Reading
Canada's Mystery Man of High Finance, Douglas How, Hantsport: Lancelot Press, 1986.
A Very Private Person - The story of Izaak Walton Killam and his Wife Dorothy, Douglas How, Halifax: Dalhousie University Graphics Services, 2004.