President's Message

We are awed and inspired by our obligation, with the support of the Killam Trusts, to build Canada’s future."

The language in Dorothy Killam’s will is simultaneously unpresumptuous and overwhelmingly ambitious, “to help in the building of Canada’s future by encouraging advanced study”. Since they were first established in 1965, the Killam Trusts have had a transformative impact on Canada’s future.

The visionary bequest by Izaak Walton Killam and Dorothy J. Killam, with the largest share going to Dalhousie, has contributed to our university’s success in a foundational way. Most importantly, it has allowed Dalhousie to attract and retain top tier researchers – graduate students and faculty members - from around the world. The Killam vision and support was undoubtedly the major driver in our transformation from a small college by the sea to a globally recognized research university.

The Killams understood that Canada’s future is inextricably tied to the ability of our graduate students and researchers to devote themselves to the dissemination and creation of new knowledge. Killam funding enables researchers to devote themselves to exploring fully the ideas and insights that will lead to new breakthroughs. The consequence is an improvement in the lives of Canadians and the enhancement of sympathetic understanding among us.

We are proud to join the other Killam institutions in realizing the Killams’ brave vision and we are honoured and profoundly grateful to be beneficiaries of the Killam legacy at Dalhousie. We are awed and inspired by our obligation, with the support of the Killam Trusts, to build Canada’s future.

Kim Brooks
President and Vice-Chancellor