McGill University Athletics

George Lengvari, Jr., a native of Montreal West, Que., is a major benefactor of McGill Athletics & Recreation who has been selected in the Hall of Fame's builder category. The local  businessman who serves as chair of Lengvari Capital, Ltd., has made a significant impact on intercollegiate basketball in Montreal.

Lengvari, whose Hungarian family immigrated to Canada in 1951 when he was nine years old, obtained his bachelor's degree in economics in 1963 from Loyola College, one of two institutions that would merge into Concordia. He later enrolled in the faculty of law at McGill and completed a civil law degree in 1966. 

During his varsity basketball career he was a high-scoring forward and team MVP at Loyola, then played three seasons at McGill, where he served as team captain.

His first gift to McGill dates back to 1966 and since then, has donated millions, including the establishment of three different fundraising projects: the George Lengvari Basketball Awards (2003) for freshmen in men's basketball; the Jean Béliveau Awards (2016) for leadership and overall excellence by worthy student-athletes in any sport; and the Alex Kiss-Rusk Awards (2020) for incoming undergraduates in women's basketball. In addition, to encourage alumni support during a McGill 24-hour fundraiser in 2021, he committed to match all donations made up to $15,000 and the challenge produced more than $30,000 for the team's fundraising budget.

In recognition of Lengvari's legacy of service and philanthropy, U SPORTS, a national governing body, presented him with the inaugural Mitchell Family Alumni of the Year Award in May 2021. Seven months later, he announced a unique million dollar gift to the basketball program at each of his two alma maters. It was believed to be the first time in the history of Canadian university sports philanthropy that an alumnus had made a simultaneous million-dollar gift to multiple institutions. 

Lengvari was previously inducted to the Concordia Sports Hall of Fame (2011) and the McGill men's Basketball Wall of Honour (2013). He also sits on the board of governors for the Martlet Foundation, which has promoted excellence in athletics and academics since 1954. In 2019, Concordia and McGill initiated an annual regular season men's basketball rivalry challenge game for the George Lengvari Cup.

Lengvari was quite active on campus during his undergrad years. An honoured member of McGill's Scarlet Key Society (for leadership) in 1964-65, he served as the advertising editor of the McGill Law Journal (1965-66), was a student manager at Percival Molson Stadium, and was a delegate at an international conference of Law and World Affairs (1965).