Strauss Foundation Fellowships Nurture Student Excellence
At a spring reception in the historic Holmes Hall, the Faculty of Medicine officially gave thanks to members of the Richard and Edith Strauss Canada Foundation for their remarkable generosity. The Foundation’s financial support of over $4.7 million has established a grand total of eight fellowships, some of which have been supporting students for a couple of years, and some that are brand new. These fellowships are helping advance the Faculty’s education, research and health care delivery mission while providing opportunities to talented students.
Seymour Craimer from the Richard and Edith Strauss Canada Foundation
Marie Brossard-Racine, a PhD student in Rehabilitation Science, was among the first cohort of recipients of the Richard and Edith Strauss Fellowships for a two-year period in 2007-09. She explained to the gathered crowd how the financial support had enabled her to make significant progress in her research project, working with children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Her project has aimed to better understand the relationship between attention, motor functions and performance in every activity such as handwriting among children with ADHD – an essential step in finding ways to help treat them.
Marie Racine Brossard
“For me, the Richard and Edith Strauss Fellowship was more than a source of financial support,” said Brossard-Racine. “When I first received this award, I felt that the graduate committee had confidence in my potential as a future independent investigator, which gave me more self-confidence in my career choice and greater belief in my abilities.”
Fellowships like the one the benefitted Brossard-Racine continue the legacy of philanthropy that Richard and Edith Strauss began during their remarkable lives as pillars of the Montreal business community. The couple’s personal health problems – Richard suffered from difficult asthma and Edith had a physical disability – motivated them to start giving. They focused their interests on assisting researchers and educators in the health field and the Richard and Edith Strauss Canadian Foundation was born.
Vice Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of Medicine, Richard I. Levin, paid tribute to the Foundation, noting that “the relationship that has been forged over the years between our Faculty and the Strauss Foundation is a very special one. We have been delighted to work with advocates for medicine who are deeply committed to anticipating and meeting society’s future needs.”
[Laurence Miall]
