McGILL'S FACULTY OF LAW: MAKING HISTORY - Publications ...

O
n February 8, 2008, McGill’s Institute of
Air and Space Law (IASL) announced a
$500,000 gift from Boeing Aerospace, the
largest investment Boeing has ever made
in a law school. Boeing’s only condition
in making this gift was that a majority of
the money go directly to students. McGill
was delighted to agree.
The resulting Boeing Fellowships will be awarded annually
to outstanding graduate students in the IASL’s Master’s and doctoral
programs. The rest of Boeing’s initiative will support the
Boeing Educational Outreach Program, which conducts educational
programs in underdeveloped parts of the world. The first
of these took place in New Delhi in April.
At the announcement, Michael M. Fortier, federal Minister of
Public Works and Government Services, pointed out that “Boeing’s
choice to bring business to our region is a clear indication of the
talent and abilities of the IASL, which has demonstrated that it has
what it takes to advance this important field of research. It has the
competence, the expertise and the ability needed to get in on the
action — and now has a great opportunity to showcase its abilities.”
For Bob Gordon, Vice-President at Boeing Capital Corporation,
striking up partnerships with universities is a natural part
G I F T S T O T H E F A C U L T Y
BOEING GIVES LEGAL
P A S C A L Z A M P R E L L I
SCHOLARSHIP WINGS
“So much of [the aerospace] business
today is dependent on laws and
regulations, and these aren’t engineering
solutions — these are people solutions”
Bob Gordon
of Boeing’s mission. “Boeing fully recognizes the value of and need
for increasing intellectual capital in the aerospace industry,” he
said. “We need to continue to attract and train the brightest people
in the world. If we don’t, the industry will not grow and prosper.”
While this investment may not provide any direct returns for
Boeing in the short run, forward-thinking firms know that when
their industry benefits, they benefit. “When the ocean rises,” says
Gordon, “all ships rise with it.”
Naturally, a large majority of Boeing’s university partnerships
involve engineering, but Gordon also sees the value of collaboration
in the social sciences, such as law. “So much of our business
today is dependent on laws and regulations,” he says, “and these
aren’t engineering solutions — these are people solutions.”
The IASL has welcomed its first two Boeing Fellows and the
impact is being felt already. Catherine Doldirina, a doctoral student
from the Ukraine studying the intellectual property aspects
Michael Goldbloom, Vice-Principal,
Public Affairs; Roger Schallom,
Boeing; Oleksiy Burchevskyy,
Boeing Fellow; Bob Gordon,
Vice-President, Boeing Capital
Corporation; Michael M. Fortier,
Minister of Public Works and
Government Services; Principal
Heather Munroe-Blum; Professor
Paul S. Dempsey; Catherine
Doldirina, Boeing Fellow; Dean
Nicholas Kasirer; Zornitsa Kerezov,
Boeing; and Professor Ram Jakhu.
Catherine Doldirina and Oleksiy Burchevskyy
of data generated in space, sums it up bluntly: “If I hadn’t gotten
the money,” she says, “I couldn’t have come.”
Catherine developed an interest in space law while doing
graduate work in Germany. At the time, her supervisor told her
she “had to apply to McGill.” She agreed, but knew that she would
face a rough road if she had no funding. “It’s about being able to
focus,” she says. “In Germany, I had three jobs. I liked what I was
doing, but it’s no way to work.”
Oleksiy Burchevskyy, also from the Ukraine, is preparing his
Master’s thesis on the legal aspects of fascinating new hybrid
vehicles that can both travel by road and fly at low altitudes. He
is quick to echo Doldirina’s sentiments. “I had doubts about
whether to continue my studies or start full-time work, but after
receiving the Fellowship, my hesitations vanished.”
For Doldirina, Burchevskyy and future Boeing Fellows, the
sky is the limit.
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