Hugh McQueen, 1975. | Photo: Winston Cross
“He was an inspiration to his colleagues and will be greatly missed by all Concordians,” says Amir Asif, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science.
He describes McQueen as a devoted faculty member who contributed immensely to the growth of a modest engineering school into a comprehensive, well-balanced department widely recognized across Canada and the world.
Born in 1933 in Alloa, Scotland, a town near Glasgow, McQueen moved to Montreal in 1942, at the height of the Second World War.
He earned degrees from Loyola College, McGill University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, before taking a faculty positon as associate professor at Ecole Polytechnique. He went on to become a research scientist at the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources from 1966 to 1968. He joined Sir George Williams University as an associate professor in 1968 and was promoted to professor in June 1972.
Outside of his research area of metallurgy, in which he put out close to 500 publications, McQueen helped create remarkable change at Concordia. He was involved with the launch of the university’s first graduate program in engineering in the early 1970s.
He served as acting department chair from June 1971 to January 1973. Later, he became the leader of the university’s initiative to give engineering students an understanding of the social aspects of their chosen field.
He was attentive to the news topics of the day and brought them into the classroom. In 1973, when the oil trading countries in the Middle East halted shipments to North America and drove prices skyward, McQueen became deeply committed to issues of sustainability and started teaching energy strategy.
Although he officially retired in 1998, McQueen remained an ever-present figure in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, giving papers at conferences and attending council meetings.
In addition to his prodigious research output, McQueen’s dedication to Concordia went beyond the classroom. “He was a great alumnus and had a long history as a generous donor,” says Sarah Kenny, principal director of development for the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science.
This generosity established three endowments at the university, the most recent established in 2015 to fund two undergraduate awards in the faculty. The two others, established in 1979 and 2008, benefit both the undergraduate and graduate population.
In addition to a number of academic honours, McQueen won the 2010 Sustainability Champion Award at Concordia.
He cycled to work every day from his home in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce until this past fall, using the same bicycle for more than 50 years. He built it as a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame in the 1960s.
McQueen is survived by his wife Josephine, six children and seven grandchildren.
A funeral will be held on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 11 a.m. in the Loyola Chapel (7141 Sherbrooke St. West). A light lunch reception will follow, offering the opportunity to visit with the family.