A coffee with… Maud Cohen | The female genius

Maud Cohen’s school career seemed all mapped out. First in class, she was destined, like many girls who excel in science, for medicine. But, it must be admitted, the dissection workshops at CEGEP had cooled her down a bit.

Isabelle Hachey
The Press

Come to think of it, maybe medicine wasn’t for her. Maud Cohen preferred physics and math to biology. In short, she was looking for her way. And had only two years, in CEGEP, to make his choice of university – and career.

Her fate changed on December 6, 1989, when a killer broke into classes at the École Polytechnique de Montréal, ordered the men out, then shot the women, shouting: “I hate feminists. ! »

At the time, barely 20% of Polytechnique students were, in fact, female students. Like many women, Maud Cohen had never considered becoming an engineer. The killing awakened something in her. “I thought, ‘I’m going to test it.’ »

She was admitted to Poly in the fall of 1991. And she was not mistaken. Five years later, she earned her degree in industrial engineering.

***

Three decades later, Maud Cohen is helping to write a new page of history at Polytechnique Montréal by becoming the establishment’s general manager. She is the very first woman to hold this position in 150 years.

“I’m proud to be the first,” she says. Although this is normal, given the sector [largement masculin], that there haven’t been women leaders in the past, I think it’s about time there was one. Especially for Polytechnique. »

The appointment is highly symbolic for this establishment marked by the worst act of anti-feminist hatred in the history of Quebec. But there is still a long way to go: even today, Polytechnique only has 30% female students.

Things are progressing…slowly.

Maud Cohen is confident: the genius of tomorrow will be increasingly female. “When we think of the impact that engineers can have on major societal issues, such as sustainable development, I believe we have everything we need to attract more women. »

Already, there are more feminine geniuses, she points out. At Polytechnique, biomedical engineering, for example, attracts 60% women. Electrical engineering, on the contrary, remains very, very masculine. Maud Cohen first signed up there in 1991. “It was a disaster! It was Dominique Anglade who told me: “I’m going to industrial engineering, Maud, why don’t you try?” »

Maud Cohen followed her friend into this branch. Together, they were fully involved in student life at Poly: the association, the genius competitions, the oratorical debates. Both had the seeds of politicians.

But still, they had to walk on eggshells. They rubbed shoulders with students who had experienced the horror of December 6th. Teachers who had been first responders that night. “We felt that the school had been marked. It was tricky. Polytechnique was in the spotlight all the time. As soon as there was something, the student initiations, poof, the spotlight: were the women treated well? For those who had experienced that, it was still quite heavy. »

***

I met Maud Cohen at Station W, an illuminated Shops Angus café in the heart of the Rosemont district. Smiling and relaxed, the 51-year-old manager seemed relieved not to find herself in the hot seatfor once.

It is that over the course of her career, Maud Cohen had to get used to the spotlight. And at, say, tighter interviews. She learned to face the media as soon as she was appointed president of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec in 2009.

“I arrived in June and in the fall the show Investigation journalist Alain Gravel released all his reports! “ Collusion, corruption, small arrangements between friends… on all the platforms, Maud Cohen had to defend the profession, splashed by serial scandals.

Maud Cohen was tasked with restoring public confidence in the profession. The fact that she is a woman “perhaps softened the message” of the Order, which quickly took a stand in favor of a commission of inquiry into the construction industry.

In the eye of the storm, Maud Cohen bet on transparency and consistency. “We didn’t see that one coming. Since then, she has never deviated from these principles. “To hold a coherent speech, to be consistent in its values, it is the most important. »

***

Could Maud Cohen have been “consistent in her values” if she had been elected under the banner of the Coalition avenir Québec in the 2012 general election?

Most of the time, no doubt. But not always, she admits.

Each time a position opens or a constituency becomes available, she receives a phone call from the CAQ. But she is no longer (at all) interested.

“I told François Legault: I would find myself in a conflict of loyalty. I have many affinities with the CAQ, on several subjects, but Dominique [Anglade, cheffe de l’opposition officielle], she is one of my best friends. We ski together, she was my bridesmaid! »

So no, Maud Cohen will not dive back. Because of this conflict of loyalties, but also because of the too often ruthless treatment reserved for women in politics. “It’s not up to what one would expect from a society that calls itself feminist. »

Questionnaire without filter

Coffee and me: I have a love-hate relationship with coffee. I didn’t drink it until about five years ago. I didn’t like the taste, it gave me heart palpitations. I started drinking it because of its utilitarian function. I learned to like it and now drink two a day in the morning.

The book I will read this summer: The whisper of the hakapiks, by Roxanne Bouchard. It is a rare Quebec thriller, the third investigation by Joaquin Morales, after The Coral Bride and We were the salt of the sea. I don’t read quickly, often in the evening, before going to bed. It allows me to pass into another universe.

A place in the world where I feel good: My father and my husband are French. I lived in France for three years. I feel at home there. Because of the pandemic, I haven’t been there for three years. I’m going back this summer; it will do a lot of good to see the family again.

People I would like to bring together around a table, dead or alive: Many members of my family have passed away. My mother died of lung cancer at 59, my uncle died last year, my cousin committed suicide at 20, my aunt died this year… If I had the chance, I reunite my family, that’s for sure.

Who is Maud Cohen?

• Born November 10, 1971 in Bois-des-Filion
• Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering (Polytechnique Montréal) in 1996 and master’s degree in business administration (HEC Montréal) in 2004
• President of the Order of Engineers of Quebec from 2009 to 2012
• President of the national executive committee of the Coalition avenir Québec in 2014
• President and CEO of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation from 2014 to 2021
• Director General of Polytechnique Montréal from August 10, 2022