Mark and Monica Hantho’s ties to McGill run deep and so does their commitment to their alma mater.
“We really consider it home,” Mark Hantho said last month in Montreal where the couple received the McGill Alumni Association’s highest honour, the Award of Merit, for their exceptional service to the University.
“Generations have gone to McGill before us,” said Hantho, Chairman of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Global Head of Equity Capital Markets at Deutsche Bank. And three of the couple’s four children are also McGillians.
Mark, BCom’81, and Monica, BEd’81, met in high school in Montreal and attended McGill at the same time. They spent many years in Connecticut and now live in New York City.
They’ve generously supported McGill, volunteered their time, promoted their alma mater, and opened their home to McGill-bound American students.
The couple served as co-chairs of the Tri-State Region of the International Parents Council and have hosted annual Student Send-offs, welcoming incoming students to the McGill family before they headed off to Montreal.
Mark Hantho reflects on a 36-year history in the McGill community:
“My wife began a program really orientating the parents [whose children] were going to McGill. And that brought on another layer of understanding, which is, the parents are the ones who are very nervous about having their kids from the States go to Canada. They don’t even know what Canada is all about in some cases. And I think that extra care has made a big difference,” said Hantho who is president of Friends of McGill University Inc., helping to raise money for the University, and has served for many years on the Desautels Faculty of Management advisory board.
The couple’s generous support of McGill includes the creation of the Hantho Family Fund for Business Sustainability and Environmental Management.
“We’re deeply honoured, to say the least, to have the recognition among many, many great alumni that give so much,” Hantho said before the MAA Honours and Awards Banquet on May 2.
It’s not something the couple expected nor sought out, he added.
“But at the end of the day, to have someone say we really want to thank you back means a lot.”
