The McCall MacBain Foundation is honoured to join the Circle of Benefactors to grow the Order of the White Rose Scholarships at Polytechnique Montreal. The Scholarships support talented women in pursuing graduate studies in engineering and honour the 14 women whose lives were cut short by the devastating shooting on December 6, 1989.
Since its founding in 2014, on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, the Scholarships have supported 10 exceptional women from across Canada, one each year, to pursue a master’s or PhD in engineering anywhere in the world. In its second decade, we are supporting Polytechnique Montreal to expand the scholarships to reach 14 women annually over the next 10 years. In addition to a financial award of $50,000, scholarship recipients will also access leadership training and mentorship, joining a community that will grow year over year and that will champion them throughout their lives.
In addition to honouring the past, we are so proud to invest in the next generation of women in engineering, a profession where they continue to be under-represented. Through these scholarships and beyond, Polytechnique Montreal has made remarkable progress in supporting more women to pursue engineering. The university attained Engineers Canada’s goal of 30% women engineering undergraduates by 2030 a decade early, in 2020.
We would also like to congratulate Makenna Kuzyk, the 2024 recipient of the scholarship, whose long list of achievements include becoming the first woman, and the second civilian, to be admitted to the International Test Pilots School Master of Science in Flight Test Engineering program. We wish her success in all her endeavours as she joins a growing community of talented women pursuing studies in engineering.
Read more about the partnership here.
We invite you to learn more about the tragic events of December 6, 1989, and ways to commemorate the day through the below resources: