Fonds F2493 - Alfred Bader fonds

Alfred Bader was born in Vienna, Austria in 1924. After Kristallnacht he was included in the first Kindertransport from Vienna to Britain in December 1938. In 1940 he was interned in a British detention centre until being transferred to another centre on Quebec's Ile aux Noix later that year; while there he studied for McGill University's matriculation exams, passing them in 1941. After World War II he studied chemistry and engineering at Queen,s University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1945. Emigrating to the United States, he pursued graduate studies at Harvard, earning an M.Sc. in organic chemistry in 1948 and then a Ph.D. in 1949. During a sea voyage to Liverpool that year he met Isabel Overton.

After his studies Bader began work as a research chemist with PPG Co. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1950-1954, and then became chief chemist for Aldrich Chemicals Company (1954-55), and subsequently its president (1955–81) and chairman (1981–91). He served as president of Sigma-Aldritch Corporation (1975-80) and its chairman (1980-91), then as chairman emeritus (1991-92). Alfred Bader became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1964. He has received honourary degrees from several universities in the United States, Canada and England. Alfred Bader died on December 23, 2018.

Isabel Louise (Overton) Bader was born November 1, 1926, in Kirkland Lake, a gold mining town in Northeast Ontario, Canada. In 1949, she met Alfred Bader on a sea voyage to the United Kingdom and developed an immediate bond, but eventually parted ways. For the next 28 years, she pursued a career in teaching, co-founding a drama school, the Thalia School of Elocution and Drama, and became a skilled costume designer. Despite this long separation, the spark between Isabel and Alfred never waned, and remarkably, they eventually managed to reconnect and were finally married in 1982.

Together, Alfred and Isabel Bader became influential philanthropists, particularly supporting the arts and education. They generously contributed to the University of Toronto (U of T) and Queen’s University. Notably, they played a crucial role in the construction of the Isabel Bader Theatre at U of T, along with significant donations to Queen’s. Isabel’s philanthropic vision later shifted towards supporting indigenous and immigrant communities.

Isabel passed away August 28, 2022.