McGill was always very prominent in my perception, even when I was growing up. My parents were Hungarian refugees when they came to Montreal. My mother did her Master’s in Biochemistry at McGill and then later worked at the Shriners Hospital which was affiliated with McGill. My uncle is an emeritus professor in Physics and at one point worked for McGill. McGill faculty and colleagues were always around at the time, so I always had a fair understanding of what McGill was about long before I had to choose a university.
I realized that when you have such a good school in your backyard, why go anywhere else?”
I come from a family of scientists and engineers, so I always knew I would likely follow in the same footsteps. That was the story I always heard from the family growing up. I learned how to program computers before I ever had one, by reading books and magazines. But I wanted to learn more about the universe and focus on what actually goes on in the world, with people and society not just machines.
While I had a moment of rebellion and initially went to a small Ivy League college in the States, I eventually made it back to McGill and completed my Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s in Comparative Literature. I realized that when you have such a good school in your backyard, why go anywhere else?
A McGill Arts education has given me the crucial skills to be able think analytically and creatively, and not to see those two things as opposites.”
I had a two-track McGill experience – on the one hand I was an Arts student, and on the other hand I spent all my free time in the basement of Burnside Hall, where the Computer Science Department was. McGill was the place where I could do what I had to during the day, but at night I could immerse myself in technology. That was pretty great. That is how I remember those years. It was also amazing to be in an atmosphere with plenty of fantastic faculty and people at the forefront of what they do, like Charles Taylor.
A McGill Arts education has given me the crucial skills to be able think analytically and creatively, and not to see those two things as opposites. Instead it is a blend that can be very important and powerful. In what I do – founding, growing and eventually exiting startups. Being a good writer, reader and persuasive communicator has served me in all areas of my career.