The Michael Steinitz Legacy Fund will be established to support the Otto and Else Steinitz Performing Arts Series and an Annual Robert Steinitz Lecture in the StFX Physics Department
St. Francis Xavier University is pleased to announce that alumna Joy Romero ‘77 and her husband Diego are contributing $250,000 to establish an endowment in honour of Dr. Michael Steinitz to support two subjects very close to his heart -- the Antigonish Performing Arts Series and an annual lecture in the Department of Physics at StFX.
Eighty per cent of the endowment ($200,000) will be designated to the Otto and Else Steinitz Performing Arts fund, which will support the annual operating costs of the series, and 20 per cent ($50,000) will be designated to support an annual Robert Steinitz lecture in the StFX Physics Department. The first $50,000 of the Romero’s gift has been established as a matching opportunity in support of the Antigonish Performing Arts Series to help establish a permanent funding source for the series.
Otto and Else Steinitz were Michael’s grandparents. They loved music and were killed in a concentration camp. Their son, Robert, Michael’s father, was also a physicist who worked in industry all his life, always hoping for a chance to teach. "He was one of the last Jews to get a PhD in Berlin in 1935," Dr. Steinitz said.
This generous donation by the Romero Family is to honour Dr. Steinitz’s commitment to bringing celebrated artists to Antigonish and his inspiration of countless students during his time as a professor in the StFX Physics Department. “It is our pleasure to make this donation to StFX. Michael was a tremendous inspiration and mentor to me during my time at StFX and the creation of this fund will permanently recognize his influence in both of these areas of our community. The performing arts are a critical component of a healthy community, and we hope that the annual lecture will stimulate discussion amongst StFX students and faculty,” said Ms. Romero. “We wanted to begin our donation with a matching opportunity, in the hope that others would also step forward to support the Performing Arts Series.”
“The creation of this endowment is a wonderful gift by Joy and Diego to recognize Michael's positive influence on our community," said StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin. "Enabling ongoing funding to the performing arts series and creating a sponsored annual lecture in physics will enrich the experience provided by StFX to many of our students and our community.”
Joy graduated from StFX in 1977 and is the Executive Advisor Innovation at Canadian Natural Resources Limited.
Dr. Steinitz is an Emeritus Professor in Physics at StFX, a past president of the Canadian Association of Physicists, and presently a member of Commission 13 of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics – Physics for Development. He has chaired the Performing Arts Series for almost 50 years and was one of the founders of Debut Atlantic and the Atlantic Presenters’ Association.
Individuals interested in participating in the matching funding opportunity can contact Rachel Pink in the StFX Advancement Department at @email and reference The Michael Steinitz Legacy Fund.
