Of the more than 60 professors in five different universities who tried to teach Jenny Cook (PhD '96) the meaning of history, one – only one – actually nailed it.
"There was no greater challenge to a professor than having me as a student," says the Canadianist. "And Dalhousie's Michael Cross survived the experience."
In recognition of that mentorship, Ms. Cook recently took the laudable step of including a sizeable bequest in her will to establish a graduate scholarship in History at Dalhousie. "The award is made not to the history department, but to Michael," says Ms. Cook. "Having had no training in Canadian history prior to coming to Dalhousie, Michael really took a big leap into the unknown accepting me as a PhD student. This bequest honours Michael and the fact that he never stopped teaching me history."
The gift will also fund the history department's annual graduate student reception, now re-named the Sutherland Gathering in honour of David Sutherland, another Dal history professor and mentor of Ms. Cook's. "Even though he was never my professor, I was amazed that David took so much time to edit my doctoral thesis submission. He tore it to shreds so that I could rebuild it into a McGill-Queens book. I was always grateful for that," she says.
