Eighty-three years after Dr. Alfred R. Bader’s initial arrival at Queen’s, experts in chemistry and arts alike came together to honour him and his contributions.
Dr. Alfred Bader, BSc ’45, BA ’46, MSc ’47, LLD ’86, first arrived on Queen’s campus in 1941. On Nov. 18, his legacy was honoured at the first-ever Bader Symposium, celebrating his 100th birthday on April 28. The event was hosted by the Queen’s University International Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society (Q-ACS) at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. Alfred Bader and his late wife, Isabel Bader, LLD ’07, were both significant donors to Queen’s. Alfred Bader is renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to the fields of chemistry and art history. Together, the couple sponsored Jewish studies and the arts on campus, the Bader International Student Centre in England, the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, and funding to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
The American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the world’s largest scientific organizations, has over 200,000 globally. In 2022, a group of graduate and undergraduate students at Queen’s initiated and led Canada’s second ACS International Student Chapter contributing to the chemical community, according to the club’s website.
Dr. Daniel Bader, son of Alfred Bader and CEO and President of Bader Philanthropies, called the event a success, highlighting its student-led nature as a remarkable achievement.
“It’s really amazing to see something like this that has been student-designed, student-run, and student-delivered. I’ve come to a lot of different kinds of symposiums at different universities, including Queens University, and this is one of the best symposiums I’ve ever been to, and the fact that it’s all been done by students is remarkable,” Daniel Bader said in an interview with The Journal.
The event began with opening remarks from Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane along with Executive Director of the Chemical Institute of Canada Josephine Tsang, who both noted the importance of Alfred Bader’s presence at Queen’s.
“I often reflect on how extraordinary of a moment that was when Alfred arrived on this campus, and what the consequences of that one person’s arrival on the university campus could be, played out over decades,” Deane said.
In an interview with The Journal, Aaron Shugar, professor and Bader chair in art conservation in the Department of Art History & Art Conservation, reflected on his involvement in the Symposium.
“I feel exceptionally privileged to be maybe one of the most in-tune speakers to who Bader really was, which was a chemist who really loved art,” Shugar said. As a cultural heritage scientist, Shugar is involved in technical art history, the development of art analysis instrumentation and conservation science research—tying together the fields of art, science, and engineering.
Aviva Gerring, ArtSci ’25, and Q-ACS public outreach director explained the importance of the event and the impact Bader made at Queen’s.
“A huge part of it [the symposium] was not only commemorating the immense impact and change that he brought to the chemical community, but it was his philanthropy and his commitment to sharing resources and making them accessible to others,” Gerring said in an interview with The Journal.
Vice-President of Q-ACS, Max van Zyl, MA ’25, highlighted the importance of Alfred Bader’s inspirational story of escaping Nazi from persecution as a Jewish person and how he went on to make a lasting impact at Queen’s, emphasizing his story should serve as an inspiration for everyone to push through their life challenges.
“The story of Alfred Bader is something that a lot of people aren’t aware of and something that I think should inspire each of us. Everybody has their problems, whatever it might be, big or small, but it’s important to push through them, to continue to work, to recognize that each of us has talent,” van Zyl said in an interview with The Journal.
Following the formal opening speeches, the symposium proceeded with speaker sessions, poster presentations, lectures by Bader graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, a performance session, and the plenary address by Daniel Bader.
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