Robert (Bob) McDevitt (1931-2016): ‘A gifted instructor and a real friend’

The Concordia community is saddened to hear of the passing of Robert (Bob) McDevitt, a former lecturer in the Department of Journalism, who died on September 8, 2016 at the age of 85.

McDevitt was a much beloved instructor who helped a new generation of journalists cut their teeth at Concordia. He came to the university in 1987 after working as a broadcast journalist for more than 30 years, mainly with the CBC as a sports reporter and anchor in both television and radio.

“He provided instant credibility to the program,” says Enn Raudsepp, former chair and professor emeritus with the department. “As a broadcaster, he was a perfectionist. Once students realized that Bob’s way of doing things led to professional success, they began to work almost as hard as him.”
 
Known as a gifted storyteller, McDevitt instilled the need to make factual information interesting. 

“When Bob finally retired after 12 years of teaching, the students knew they had lost not only a gifted instructor, but a real friend,” adds Raudsepp.

Broadcast journalism alumnus Peter Sankoff (BA 92), a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta, wrote in an online guest book that no one was more influential to him at a critical time in his life than McDevitt.

“Any of my former or current students who feel that they have benefitted from anything that I’ve tried to do to make their lives better don’t know it, but they owe a massive debt of gratitude to Bob,” he stated.

“From the start my goal in teaching was simple: I just wanted to be half as good as he was. An absolute legend. Everyone should be so lucky to have someone like him as a teacher.”

Journalism alumna Sonali Karnick (BA 00), host of CBC's All In a Weekend, remembers that McDevitt was not gentle with his criticism but he was fair. "Even if you disagreed with him, Bob would hear you out. I can hear his voice when I'm writing for broadcast, telling me to keep it simple," she says.

"I'll never forget the feeling of pride when I bumped into him on the street and he told me that I sounded fantastic on the radio. There are a few people whose approval I sought. His was one of them."

McDevitt's legacy lives on at Concordia today. In 2000, the Bob McDevitt Award was established as a scholarship open to full-time undergraduate students entering their first year of studies in the Department of Journalism.

Donations can be made to the Bob McDevitt Award Endowment through the following methods: online at concordia.ca/givenow; by telephone at 514-848-2424, ext. 3884 or by sending a cheque payable to:

Concordia University
1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., FB-520
Montreal, QC
H3G 1M8

When making a contribution, donors should specify their gift is for the Bob McDevitt Award Endowment.