The Beatty Memorial Lecture is a distinguished annual lecture coordinated by McGill UniversityinMontreal, Quebec, Canada. The lecture series was inaugurated in 1952 to honour Edward Wentworth Beatty, the first Canadian-born president of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the former chancellor of McGill, a position he held from 1921 until his death in 1943.[1] Each year, an internationally renowned visitor presents a public lecture on a subject of their choice, providing an opportunity for the McGill community and the general public to "further their education on topical issues."[2]
The motto of the lecture series is, "Change Through Exchange".[3]
Themes covered in past Beatty Lectures have ranged in focus, from politics, philosophy, science, comedy and urbanization, to the environment and literature. Past lecturers have included Nobel Laureates, leading neuroscientists, renowned musicians and trailblazing activists.[4] Some of the most famous lecturers have included Margaret Atwood;[5] Richard Dawkins; Deepak Chopra, Muhammad Yunus, Queen Noor of Jordan, Jane Goodall, Saul Bellow, Arthur Ashe and Douglas Copland.[6]
An anthology featuring 15 past Beatty Lectures titled With the World to Choose From: Celebrating Seven Decades of the Beatty Lecture at McGill University [31] was published by McGill-Queen's University Press in 2021, including lectures by Barbara Ward, Robert Sinsheimer, Mikhail Gorbachev, Muhammad Yunus, Charles Taylor, and Roxane Gay.[32]
