Dalhousie University hopes the Bank of Canada will put a school alumna on the bill being dedicated to an iconic Canadian woman.

The government announced last month it's inviting nominations for notable Canadian women to be featured on a new polymer banknote to be issued in late 2018.

Shortly after, Dalhousie started reviewing notable alumnae who would fit the criteria — a Canadian woman who has achieved distinction and has been deceased for at least 25 years.

"But we looked at the existing nominations and found that there were already existing alumnae," said alumni engagement officer Naomi Hill.

Former Dalhousie students Portia White and Lucy Maud Montgomery were already on the Bank of Canada's list of nominees.

White, a Truro native, is considered one of the country's greatest classical singers and was the first black Canadian concert singer to win international acclaim. She trained as a teacher at Dalhousie in the 1920s.

P.E.I. author Lucy Maud Montgomery, best-known for her novel Anne of Green Gables, studied English literature at Dalhousie in 1895 and 1896.

Iconic women

Dal's alumni team has been encouraging additional nominations of former students through a social media campaign before the nomination deadline on Friday.

"We've been checking the nominations daily to see if there are any alumnae out of them, then we'd definitely be proud to support them as well," said Hill.

What do Lucy Maud Montgomery & Portia White have in common? Both studied at <a href="https://twitter.com/Dalnews">@DalNews</a>, and both are <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BankNOTEable?src=hash">#BankNOTEable</a> <a href="https://t.co/2OusbLM8QS">pic.twitter.com/2OusbLM8QS</a> —@Dal_Alumni

Brian Leadbetter, Dal's director of communications, says the campaign comes as the university is gearing up for its 200th anniversary in 2018.

"We really do believe that these nominations highlight the role that Dalhousie played in shaping the lives and careers of some our most iconic women," he said.



Other Nova Scotia-born women who have made the long list so far include artist Maud Lewis, First Nations activist Anna Mae Aquash, folklorist Helen Creighton and civil rights icon Viola Desmond.