MEDICINE

L – R: Railroad entrepreneur Willard
Kitchen, surrounded by colleagues;
Judith Jardine, his granddaughter.
An unrestricted gift, from an uNExPECtED sourCE
Fewer UBC medical students will struggle financially and more
UBC medical researchers will be able to pursue cutting-edge
ideas, thanks to a $7.4 million bequest – the largest estate gift
to the Faculty of Medicine in its 63-year history, and the largest
unrestricted donation to the Faculty for students or research.
Judith Jardine, who died in 2006 at the age of 81, was the sole heir
to the wealth of the Kitchen/Jardine families of Vancouver. Through
her will, she left part of her estate to the Faculty of Medicine.
“We are extremely grateful to Ms. Jardine for supporting medical
education and research at UBC,” says Gavin Stuart, Dean of
the Faculty of Medicine and UBC’s Vice Provost, Health. “Her
generosity will make an indelible difference in the lives of
British Columbians through the training of future doctors and
advancement of life-saving research.”
The funds received by the Faculty will establish the Willard
Kitchen Memorial Fund, named for Jardine’s maternal grandfather,
who amassed his fortune building railways in New Brunswick.
After moving with his family to Vancouver, Kitchen became a director
of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, which later became BC Rail.
Although Ms. Jardine had no obvious connection to UBC’s medical
school, she was a triple alumnus of the university, earning a B.A.
and M.A. in French, and a Bachelor of Library Science.
The discretionary nature of the gift is particularly useful for the
Faculty’s research agenda, because it can support the kind of
cutting-edge investigations that are often deemed too risky for
funding agencies.
A portion of the bequest will be used to support research in the
Faculty of Medicine’s three priority areas – neuroscience and
mental health, heart and lung, and cancer.
A pioneer determined to support others’ research
Jean Templeton Hugill always cut a
distinctive figure, not only for her bright
lipstick, colourful wardrobe and love of
cocker spaniels, but for her occupation –
an anesthesiologist in 1950s Vancouver,
a time and place when the field was
overwhelmingly male.
As one of the first female anesthesiologists
Jean Templeton Hugill.
in western Canada, Dr. Hugill earned a
reputation for taking on difficult cases, becoming a key figure in
developing obstetrical anesthesiology in British Columbia.
“To be a leader in anesthesia as a woman in those times was
very tough,” says Bernard MacLeod, Associate Professor in the
Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics,
who trained under Dr. Hugill. “She wanted to do basic research,
but never had the opportunity.”
After a career devoted to improving anesthesiology from the bedside,
Dr. Hugill was determined to support the research of others. Upon
her death in 2012, Dr. Hugill left a $562,500 bequest to the Faculty
of Medicine, adding to the $500,000 gift she made in 1991 that was
matched by the province to establish an endowed chair.
Dr. MacLeod, the current Dr. jean Templeton Hugill Chair in
Anaesthesia, and his predecessor, Ernest Puil, contributed to
several research findings that have had a direct impact on patients
undergoing anesthesia. Dr. Puil collaborated with engineers to
develop a method of monitoring the depth of anesthesia, which is
now in clinical use in France. Dr. MacLeod is helping to develop the
pain-relieving properties of a novel amino acid found in meteorites
from Mars.
A donor himself, Dr. MacLeod lowered his stipend and makes
annual donations so the Hugill endowments can support more
graduate students.
“Dr. Hugill put forth a mission to the Department to draw
together anesthesiologists, pharmacologists and engineers
to do translational research, which they did and still do,” says
Roanne Preston, the Head of the Department. “Through her
philanthropy, Dr. Hugill is ensuring that her vision for progress
in the field continues.”
In more ways than one: Today, nearly half of UBC’s anesthesiology
residents are women.
To support anesthesiology research, please contact Laura Ralph
at 604.827.4728.