Funding to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Jewish Studies program and post-doctoral fellows at the University will increase thanks to a generous donation by Alfred Bader.

Bader, Sci ’45, Arts ’46, MSc ’47, LLD ’86, and his wife Isabel Bader, LLD ’07, donated a total of $5.5 million to the University.

The Baders were also behind the purchase of Herstmonceux Castle, which houses the Bader International Study Centre, and the opening of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in the fall. They were recently awarded the Alumni Achievement Award, the University’s highest honour, by the Queen’s University Alumni Association.

$3 million of the donation will be allocated to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, $1.5 million to the Jewish Studies program and $1 million for post-doctoral fellows working in humanities departments.

The funds for the Art Centre will be used for care and “interpretation” of the Bader Collection, which includes more than 200 paintings from the 16th to 18th centuries, and toward the Bader Curator of European Art’s new Bader Legacy Fund endowment.

The Jewish Studies program, which is currently experiencing a large demand for its courses and seminars, will see its teaching capacity increase as a result of the funding.

The donation will also fund a post-doctoral fellow in Jewish Studies who will teach, give public lectures, serve as a guest speaker in other courses and offer consultation for faculty and students.