Walter Booth built a legacy of entrepreneurship and innovation at McMaster
Philanthropist, engineer and entrepreneur Walter Booth often said McMaster University took a chance on him.
The higher education stalwart credited McMaster’s first dean of engineering, John Hodgins, and professor, Jim Siddall, for mentoring him when he needed it most. It made him loyal to McMaster.
In turn, generations of McMaster engineering students are benefitting from Booth’s generosity and commitment to the institution, particularly to the W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology, the school that bears his name.
Booth, a strong supporter of McMaster University’s Faculty of Engineering and higher education, died peacefully on April 2. He was 81. He was the beloved husband of the late Marilyn Booth, and father of Catherine, Kevin and Alison and grandfather of five.
“I am saddened to hear this news but also believe that Walter is now in a better place,” said Ishwar Puri, McMaster’s Dean of Engineering. “As he smiles upon all of us, I want to again acknowledge the debt of gratitude that the McMaster University Faculty of Engineering owes to Walter. I wish his children Catherine, Kevin and Alison the best as they find peace through their reflections of Walter’s generous life and impressive accomplishments. Like them, we too will miss him. On behalf of the McMaster Faculty of Engineering, I offer my deepest sympathy to Walter’s family and our own community that he touched so profoundly.”
Born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Booth graduated from the Ryerson Institute of Technology (now Ryerson University) as a mechanical technologist. After working as a designer at Stelco in Hamilton for several years, he applied to McMaster’s engineering program. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1962 and returned to complete a Master’s degree in 1965.
After graduation, Booth joined what would become The Timberland Group. Under his leadership, the company expanded to comprise a number of related businesses, which produced a variety of highly engineered products for heavy industries.
Booth’s long-standing special relationship with McMaster blossomed in 2002 when he celebrated his 40th anniversary class reunion. He was an inaugural member of the Dean’s Advisory Board and served under deans Mo Elbestawi, David Wilkinson, and Ishwar Puri, and acting deans Peter Smith and Art Heidebrecht.
He supported a new chair in engineering entrepreneurship in 2003, and donated funds to support a new post graduate innovation and entrepreneurship program and building to house it: the Engineering Technology Building, which opened in 2009. His generosity extended to the creation of a chair in Eco-Entrepreneurship in 2010 and a fund to support the W Booth School. In 2013, he contributed to the Hatch Centre for Engineering Experiential Learning.
“Walter Booth was a proud alumnus of McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering,” said Art Heidebrecht, Director, Booth School of Engineering Practice and former dean of engineering. “He particularly appreciated the opportunity to pursue his education at McMaster and gave back to McMaster in many ways. He was a strong supporter of the Booth School of Engineering Practice, both through his philanthropy and his encouragement of our leadership-focused masters programs. Through his achievements and support he was an inspiration to faculty, staff and students in the Booth School.”
Booth said he enjoyed giving back to McMaster as a way of thanking Hodgins and Siddall who let him into the engineering program despite not meeting the admission requirements. They were instrumental in his academic life and pursuit of a meaningful and successful career as an entrepreneur, he said.
“Both men took a chance on me at crucial times in my life and entrepreneurship and innovation are about taking chances and taking risks,” Booth said of Hodgins and Prof Siddall during an interview in 2009. “I see the need in our own organization and in Canada for this type of Engineering person who has an entrepreneurial bent and strength.”
