The MacRae Family Hospitality

Even well before Don’s term as department chair, the MacRae family reached out to welcome faculty, staff and students into their home. Some of these occasions coincided with the visit of a special colloquium speaker, often a pioneer in his or her field. Legendary examples were Martin Schwarzschild (who conducted a stove-top demonstration of stellar convection in the MacRaes’ kitchen), laser co-developer Arthur Schawlow, and pioneering radio astronomer Charles Seeger. Don and Betty thus encouraged a tradition in the department of the importance of people and communication in science, which became a legacy of the astronomy department.

Below is a department archival photograph of the 1954 Christmas party at the home of the MacRaes’, a time shortly after their arrival in Toronto in 1953. Readers will perhaps enjoy looking at the people in the photo, and comparing with the key to their identities. Not shown in this version is Frank Hawker, who took the photograph.