A million reasons to give

Feature Stories | 13 Nov 2026 | Read time: 4 min | Written by: Laura Dyer

Queen’s Health Sciences has launched a Millionaires Club to celebrate the alumni classes whose generosity has shaped generations of learners.

The story of how the Class of Meds’66 gave more than $1 million to Queen’s University doesn’t start with a single campaign target or a transformational gift. Rather, it began almost immediately after graduation, when the cohort of newly minted doctors answered a appeal from one of their own.

A crowd of Queen's alumni gathered indoors around a podium, with people holding a large framed certificate revealing a $1 million donation from "Meds'76". Above them a screen reads Millionaires Club and balloons float to the right of the group. — At the 2026 Dean's Homecoming reception, Meds'76 marked a major giving milestone and joined the Millionaires Club.

“I think it began with a call from an endocrinologist in our year, Dr. Francis Lester,” recalls Dr. Anthony Graham, a cardiologist and Meds’66 graduate.

After graduation, Dr. Lester settled with her husband in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to practise internal medicine. Struggling to access supplies for her diabetic patients, she sent a request for help to her former classmates. They swiftly answered, one of the earliest expressions of a shared philanthropic commitment they continue to this day.

“When you think back on the history of all of this,” says Dr. Graham, “we basically started giving as a class from day one.”

More than a milestone

Over the years, alumni classes like Meds’66 have donated to Queen’s in ways that reflect both university priorities and their own personal values, contributing to everything from student aid to new facilities, and research initiatives. While some gifts were tied to reunions and milestones, many were also made more quietly over time.

That long arc of generosity is what the new Queen’s Health Sciences Millionaires Club was built to recognize. Launched at Homecoming this fall, the initiative celebrates QHS alumni classes whose collective giving has surpassed $1 million. Meds’66, alongside Meds’76—which has raised more than $4.5 million—were among the first classes inducted.

Since 1953, more than a dozen graduating QHS classes have reached the $1 million class-giving milestone. But as Dean Lisa Tannock notes, the significance of that generosity lies in what it makes possible for learners.

“We know that 62 per cent of students at Queen’s receive some level of financial aid,” she says. “Supporting all these learners simply wouldn’t be possible without the help of our wonderful alumni. And that is really the idea behind our new Millionaires Club—to show our health sciences alumni that we see their incredibly generous and dedicated commitment to future generations of students. We want to share our gratitude.”

A model for what comes next

Class giving is often more of a marathon than a sprint: the product of decades of relationships, reunions, and repeated decisions to give back. Dr. Graham hopes that if he and his classmates’ actions can offer any lesson to younger alumni, it is this: giving doesn’t have to start big. It can begin with small efforts, and the simple decision to stay connected to an institution that helped shape you.

knitted navy scarf, folded neatly with a stitched millionaires club patch sewn onto the end — Commemorative scarves will be presented to QHS Millionaires Club members to honor their generosity.

“It doesn’t matter what your amount is, it's about choosing to give back in a consistent way,” he says. “Define what is meaningful for you, what you wish to support. Just participating is so important.”

In many ways, the Meds’66 class commits to this philosophy more than most. Of their 57 graduates, 51 have donated to Queen’s at some point since becoming alumni. It’s an extraordinarily high participation rate, one that speaks to the tight bonds the classmates developed during their formative academic years spent learning and growing together.

“Some of my best friends are people I met at this university,” Dr. Graham explains.

Over Homecoming, Dr. Graham and 12 of those classmates returned to campus to celebrate their sixtieth-year reunion, and received honorary scarves to mark their initiation into the Millionaires Club. Yet the real reward, he says, has been not the honour itself, but witnessing the impact of alumni generosity over time.

“Why wait till you’re gone to consider giving back?” he says. “Enjoy what you might be able to do while you’re around to see the impact.”

Looking to support an existing class giving initiative? Please contact QHS Advancement (fhsadv@queensu.ca), or visit Class Giving | Give to Queen’s.

Read time

4 min

Written by

Laura Dyer