Past Recipients

Barbara Keyfitz is the Dr. Charles Saltzer Professor of Mathematics at Ohio State University. She is a pioneer in the mathematical theory of self-similar solutions of multidimensional conservation laws. She was the first female director of a major mathematical research institution, the Fields Institute at U of T. A role model of service and leadership, she has worked to support mathematics by strengthening membership organizations that speak for the discipline.

Pia Kleber is the Helen and Paul Phelan Chair in Drama at the UC-affiliated Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto. She is also the co-founder of the University’s new BMO Lab for Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies, and AI. Her distinguished career has spanned more than 4 decades and has bridged the academic and advancement worlds, years before fundraising became an expectation of academic leaders. She is an expert on Bertolt Brecht, the late German playwright and poet, and a recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The late Sergio Marchionne was the CEO Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. He immigrated to Canada with his parents at age 13, and in the spirit of many new Canadians who attended UC, succeeded through education, determination, and hard work. Known as a tough negotiator with a razor-sharp business acumen, direct managerial style, and non-stop work ethic, he returned the Italian automaker, Fiat SpA, to profitability in two years. He also played a key role in the merger between Fiat and Chrysler to form Fiat Chysler Automobiles, and turned the company around financially.

A sexual health counsellor and educator, Ruth Miller has helped change the face of women’s health in Canada. An abortion rights activist, she has worked at and supported the Morgentaler Clinic in Toronto. She was one of only a few non-physicians on the panel of the Contraceptive Guidelines Committee of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (2004). She was also the first non-physician to receive the Marion Powell Award from Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, for her leadership and advocacy in women’s health.

The late George Washington Orton was a standout athlete, excellent scholar, and key contributor to the growth and development of UC. He was Canada’s first Olympic medalist, at the 1900 Games in Paris, where he won the 2500-metre steeplechase and finished third in the men’s 400-metre hurdles. He was awarded gold and bronze medals posthumously when they became the standard reward for Olympic achievement.

Family physician and researcher Nav Persaud is a Staff Physician and Scientist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, an Associate Professor in U of T’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Canada Research Chair in Health Justice. He has tirelessly advocated to improve the health of disadvantaged communities and individuals. In 2016 he launched a study to examine the effects of providing essential medicines for free, the results of which will have an impact on the development of a national pharmacare program.

Grammy-nominated filmmaker and television director Tim Southam has brought major commercial and artistic successes to screens in English and French Canada, as well as internationally. Currently an Executive Producer of the Netflix series Locke and Key, he has worked on many shows including Bates Motel, Lost in Space, Colony, Bones, House, Rookie Blue, and Heartland, as well as documentaries and feature films. As President of the Directors Guild of Canada, he has also dedicated his time, energy, and influence to bettering the lives of artists and performers nationwide.

Kate Taylor is an arts columnist and critic for the Globe and Mail, as well as the author of novels Madame Proust, Kosher Kitchen, and Serial Monogamy. She holds a masters in journalism from Western University, and has been honoured with the National Newspaper Award, Atkinson Journalism Fellowship, City of Toronto Book Award, and Commonwealth Prize for Best First Novel.

The late Joseph Burr Tyrell was a renowned geologist and explorer. He discovered the Albertosaurus sarcophagus dinosaur while surveying potential railroad routes in Alberta for Canadian Geological Survey. He explored and surveyed the Barren Lands region north of Winnipeg and west of Hudson’s Bay beginning in 1893, former fur-trading lands that were new Canadian territory and partially unmapped. A participant in the Yukon gold rush in 1899, he was a recipient of the Royal Society of Canada’s Flavelle Gold Medal. The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Alberta is named after him.

Erwin Angus began his public service with the Government of Ontario, but returned to Jamaica to join the foreign service as the Jamaican representative to Latin America and the United States. He then transferred to the Ministry of Mining and Natural Resources, serving as secretary to the National Bauxite Commission and writing the original paper which helped establish the Jamaica Bauxite Institute. He also helped form the State Petroleum Corporation to secure the nation’s energy resources in the height of the 1970s oil crisis.

Angus later became the chair of the Maritime Institute of Jamaica, successful extending it across the entire Caribbean. The institute is now known as the Caribbean Maritime University. After leaving public service in 1986, Angus became the managing director of Mayberry Investments Limited -- a position he still holds today. He was granted Jamaica’s Order of Distinction (commander class) in 1976 and became a Justice of the Peace in 1977.

When the First World War erupted, Norman Bethune was a 24-year-old medical student. He left school to serve as a stretcher bearer, but was sent home to finish his studies after being wounded. After graduating in 1916, he returned to the military as a surgeon and medical officer. He was the first person to introduce a mobile blood bank to the battlefield, where he performed numerous transfusions. In 1936, he proposed a universal health care system for Canada. At the time the suggestion was not readily accepted, but his compelling recommendations would eventually find a place in Canada.

Bethune died in 1939 from blood poisoning while volunteering as a doctor to the Chinese army of Mao Zedong. In 1998, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and, in 2000, U of T named an international surgical conference in his honour.

As a writer, director and performer, Daniel Brooks has collaborated with a wide range of artists. His many works include a series of monologues created with Daniel MacIvor, multi-media work with Rick Miller, direction of work by John Mighton, Beckett, Sophocles, Ibsen, Mamet and Goethe and the musical Drowsy Chaperone. His many creations include the Noam Chomsky Lectures, Insomnia, the Eco Show, the Good Life, Bigger Than Jesus, Pokey Jones, Divisadero and a series of plays created with Don McKellar and Tracy Wright (The Augusta Company).  He was co-artistic director of the Augusta Company and artistic director of Necessary Angel from 2003-12.  He teaches regularly, and his many awards include the Siminovitch Prize for achievement in Canadian theatre. His work has toured across Canada and around the world.