Peter George Centre for Living and Learning Memorial Garden

By Sophie Walsh

On September 12, 2025 –– what would have been Peter George’s 84th birthday — McMaster University will officially dedicate the memorial garden at the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning (PGCLL), honouring the university’s longest-serving president and his enduring legacy of leadership, kindness and community.

Nestled beside the PGCLL, the garden’s design was a collaboration by Peter George’s wife, Reverend Allison Barrett and Luke Vlatkovic, head of the Grounds department.

“Allison, she told me a lot about Peter George and I incorporated all of these little details she said about him into the meaning of the design,” shares Luke.

Around the garden you’ll find “Together Forever” daylillies, as well as “Ganaraska Glory” daylilies and engravings of salmon and trout, a nod to the Ganaraska River where Peter liked to fish. At the centre of the garden, coming up from the large Northern Granite stone is the main gem: the water feature.

“I think the sound of water is really soothing and I didn’t just want this to be a garden that honoured Peter George –– I wanted it to be a place where people would come for comfort at any stage of life,” says Barrett. “Whether you’re celebrating something, you’re remembering someone or something big is coming up and you need to kind of gather your strength, this is a place for you.”

As the first member of his family to graduate from university, Peter George earned his BA, his MA and his PhD all from the University of Toronto between the years of 1962 and 1967. He began his career at McMaster as a lecturer in Economics in 1965, later becoming the Dean of Social Sciences from 1980 to 1989.

By 1991, he’d gone on to become President of the Council of Ontario Universities until 1995 when he became the university’s sixth president and vice-chancellor, a role he held for 15 years until his retirement in 2010.

During his term as president, he was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1999 and the Order of Ontario in 2007. He was also a main driver in expanding campus and was particularly involved in the development of the McMaster Innovation Park as well as the McMaster Student Centre.

George is also remembered fondly for creating the President’s Award, an award given to staff members who have displayed outstanding service to the university.

“There were always faculty awards and there were student awards, but there weren’t any awards for staff, so he created them,” says Barret. “Peter didn’t see leadership as a top-down thing, but something you lead from the middle.”

George was known for his warmth, humility and personal touch. He was able to have a conversation with anyone on campus and never rushed away from a convocation stage without taking the time to pose for photos and share in graduates’ joy.

This garden, aside from being a tribute to a man who, as Barrett says, “bled maroon and grey,” is a space for students, staff and faculty to similarly foster connections and reflect on the pivotal moments of their own lives.