The Killam Trusts

The Killam Trusts were established in 1965 after the death of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam, the widow of Izaak Walton Killam, a Canadian financier, for a time the wealthiest man in Canada. He died intestate in 1955, but before his death he and his wife discussed in extensive detail the scholarship plan on which the Killam Trusts were founded. Approximately one half of his estate went to the government as inheritance tax. It was used 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 inherited by his widow, Dorothy J. Killam. In the ten years between his death and hers, she doubled the Killam fortune. Upon her death at Villa Leopolda, her estate in France, her lawyer Donald N. Byers, QC put into motion the plans the Killams had discussed during their lifetimes. Having no children of their own, the Killams decided to leave their fortune to further post-secondary education in Canada at the graduate studies level.

The Killam benefactions went to five Canadian universities: University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University and Dalhousie University. The Canada Council for the Arts also received Killam funds and administered the national program consisting of the Killam Research Fellowships open to professors from all Canadian universities; and the Killam Prize, valued at $100,000 and recognizing lifetime contributions in each of the following categories: health sciences, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. In August 2021, the Canada Council announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that would transition the administration of the Killam program to the National Research Council Canada (NRC). The 2023 National Killam Program cycle was officially launched under the administration of the NRC in April 2022 and now consists of the Dorothy Killam Fellowships and the Killam Prizes.

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 scholars who have received Killam awards have gone on to be leaders in their fields. They are constantly developing, discovering, mapping and modelling the knowledge and solutions that will change Canada’s future.

The four Trustees to the Killam Trusts meet annually 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.

The current four trustees are Bernard F. Miller QC, Managing Trustee, of Halifax; Jim Dinning, C.M., F.ICD, LLD, of Calgary; Brenda Eaton, MA, ICD.D, of Victoria; and The Honourable Kevin G. Lynch, PC, OC, PhD, LLD, of Toronto.

References

Further reading

* How, Douglas. ''Canada's Mystery Man of High Finance'', Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, 1986.
* How, Douglas. ''A Very Private Person: The Story of Izaak Walton Killam and his Wife Dorothy'', Halifax: Dalhousie University Graphics Services, 2004. Originally published by The Trustees of the Estate of Dorothy J. Killam, 1976.
* Nowell, Iris. ''Women Who Gave Away Millions: Portraits of Canadian Philanthropists'', Toronto, ON: Hounslow Press, 1996.

External links

Killam Trusts

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killam
1965 establishments in Canada
Scholarships in Canada
Foundations based in Canada