MONTREAL – George Lengvari, Jr., a McGill University benefactor who captained the men's varsity basketball team in the 1960s, was recently awarded with a King Charles III Coronation Medal. The honour was presented on May 12 in London, England, by Stephen Harper, the former Canadian prime minister, at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
 
Lengvari is the second McGill Sports Hall of Fame inductee in recent months to receive the Medal, joining football star Dr. David Fleiszer (BSc '69, MDCM '73, MSc '79), a 1969 Hec Crighton Trophy winner as player of the year in Canada, who was honoured in a royal ceremony held March 20 in Montreal.
 
The medal recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region, or community in Canada, or attained an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to the country. The citation reads: "By command of the King, the Coronation medal is hereby conferred upon you in commemoration of his Majesty's coronation as king of Canada, and in recognition of your valuable contribution to your country."
 
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, McGill and Concordia. It marked the first time in the history of Canadian university sports philanthropy that an alumnus had made a simultaneous million-dollar gift to multiple institutions. 
 
Since 2019, the crosstown rivals have confronted each other in an annual George Lengvari Cup basketball game.
 
Lengvari, whose Hungarian family immigrated to Canada in 1951 when he was nine years old, overcame the burden of being raised in a refugee camp. He played varsity basketball for both schools, earning a bachelor's degree in economics at Loyola (1963) and a civil law degree from McGill (1966).
 
His first gift to McGill dates back to 1966 and since then, has donated millions, including the establishment of numerous endowments, such as the George Lengvari Basketball Awards (2003) and Ryan Thorne Basketball Awards (2023), respectively, for men's and women's varsity athletes; 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.

Lengvari recently donated $100,000 to the Martlets basketball program to renovate the team dressing room (2025). In addition, to encourage alumni support during multiple McGill24 crowdfunding projects, he committed to match all donations made up to $15,000 in 2021 and later followed that with another $5,000 matching grant for the varsity basketball fundraising budget.

The Medal was created to mark the coronation of King Charles III, which took place on May 6, 2023. It is the first Canadian commemorative medal to mark a coronation. It was manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint, designed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, and approved by King Charles.
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca