December 9, 2009

John Humphrey and Laura McLeod have been giving to the U of C as long as they can remember.
/ Photo: Ken Bendiktsen

Seeing gifts at work

Dr. Laura McLeod, BSc’75, MD’78 and husband John Humphrey have a long history with the University of Calgary. McLeod is a clinical associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Humphrey is a professor in the Department of Greek and Roman Studies. Both feel passionately about giving back to the university through the Faculty and Staff Campaign.

The two have been giving to the university for as long as they can remember. They have donated to various areas in both of their faculties, including student scholarships to alleviate some of the costs of medical school and bursaries to allow classical archeology students to travel abroad.

McLeod and Humphrey agree that giving back to their place of work is something that they always knew they’d do.

“I really feel that I couldn’t do what I do without the Faculty of Medicine,” says McLeod. “I want to give back, to express my gratitude.”

Humphrey adds that he is fortunate to be able to see his gifts at work. “We support travel bursaries for the Greek and Roman studies students and it’s been great,” he says. “Calgary can sometimes be a disadvantage for these students because it’s so far away, so to be able to see the ancient sites and get a sense of how the landscape would have affected how people lived makes a real difference in their studies.”

McLeod and Humphrey feel the university is a great place to work and learn, and they hope that by giving back to students, they can inspire others around them to do the same.

“There are all sorts of reasons why I think the U of C is a great place to work,” says Humphrey. “Helping students is one way I can recognize that.”

One of the joys is meeting some of the students who have received scholarships and bursaries. “They always say thank you; they’re very good at that,” says Humphrey. “One of the things I say to them in return is that I hope they’ll pay it forward and support students when they’re in a position to be able to give back.”

To find out more about the Faculty and Staff Campaign, make a gift or get involved, please click here.