Alumni of Influence

Olympian, attorney and accountant Reuben (Ruby) Richman is a leading figure in the sport of basketball, both nationally and internationally. A former player and coach for the Canadian national basketball team, he has also held leadership positions with a number of professional and amateur sports organizations. One of the founders of the World Masters Games, Richman is also a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Special Achievement Award of the Sports Federation of Canada.

Lawyer John Josiah Robinette was perhaps the greatest Canadian barrister of the 20th century. During his 62-year career, he was lead counsel for a number of high-profile clients and argued more cases before the Supreme Court of Canada than any other lawyer. Known for his skill and charm, he was described as the best lawyer the country had ever seen and the standard against which all lawyers should be measured.

David Rosenberg is the Founder and President of Rosenberg Research, an economic and financial market consulting firm he established in January 2020.

Dave provides advice to 2,800 clients, both retail and institutional, across 40 countries.
Prior to creating his own company, David was chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates from 2009 to 2019. Prior to that, from 2000 to 2009, he was at Merrill Lynch, where for the first two years he was chief Canadian economist and strategist based out of Toronto; for the last seven he was Chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch in New York, where he was consistently ranked in top three of Wall Street economists polled by the annual Institutional Investors survey.

David is a frequent contributor to most major financial newspapers and publications in North America and makes regular TV appearances in the financial media.

He received both a BA and MA in economics from the University of Toronto.

Statistician and best-selling author Jeffrey Rosenthal has a knack for explaining probability concepts to expert and popular audiences alike. He completed his PhD in mathematics at Harvard University at the tender age of 24. A professor in the Department of Statistical Sciences at U of T, he is often called upon by the media for commentary and to perform statistical analysis. He is the author of several books and articles on probability and he has been recognized with numerous awards for his teaching and contributions to statistical research.

Entertainer and cultural ambassador Mark Rowswell has built bridges between Canada and China. Widely known in China by his stage name, Dashan, he rose to fame as a TV host proficient in Chinese. He is the first foreigner to have been formally accepted as a performer of xiangsheng, a form of traditional Chinese comedy. Currently Canada’s Goodwill Ambassador to China, Rowswell was also Canada’s Commissioner General for Expo 2010 in Shanghai and a torch bearer for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Pioneering physician and scholar the late Douglas Salmon was the first Black surgeon in Canada. The orphaned son of Jamaican immigrants, his resourcefulness and self-reliance drove him to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming a doctor. His medical career was spent at Centenary Hospital in Scarborough where he was elevated to chief of general surgery, the first Black person in Canada to hold such a position. Also an accomplished pianist, upon being denied entry to performance halls, he led successful protests against racial discrimination.

Higher education leader and scholar William Saywell is the author of several books on Chinese history and current Chinese foreign and military affairs. The former president of Simon Fraser University, he has extensive experience managing relationships in Asia and has helped create business opportunities for Canadians in China.

Band leader and television personality Paul Shaffer was the musical director of the Late Show with David Letterman until Letterman's retirement from the show. A sociology graduate, he began his career directing and playing piano in musicals, then became a band member on Saturday Night Live. Shaffer has released two solo albums and recorded with a wide variety of artists, such as B.B. King, Diana Ross, Yoko Ono, Cher and Brian Wilson. He makes frequent cameo appearances in films and has served as the spokesperson for Epilepsy Canada since 2002.

Comedian Frank Shuster was one-half of the iconic Canadian comedy duo, Wayne and Shuster. Along with UC classmate Johnny Wayne, he developed their trademark brand of satirical, literate slapstick. The pair performed skits on CBC Radio throughout the 1940s and gained international renown through guest appearances on television in the 1950s, notably on The Ed Sullivan Show and the BBC. As the straight man to Wayne’s funny man, Shuster was the relatively serious member of the duo.

Arnold Smith was the first secretary-general of the Commonwealth. A Rhodes scholar, he held diplomatic appointments in the United States, England and Cambodia. He served as Canadian ambassador to Egypt and to the USSR, the latter during the height of the Cold War. He was also instrumental in the development of the Commonwealth flag.

Community titan Mary Alice Stuart was a driving force in education, health care, business and the arts. She fulfilled important roles in various public and private organizations and notably served as chair of Canada’s first-ever $100-million-plus fundraising campaign. Stuart was the first woman president of the Canadian Club of Toronto, the founding chair of the board of Jazz.FM91.1, and a director of the Bank of Montreal and of S.C. Johnson and Son, Canada.

Award-winning writer and broadcaster Margaret Visser’s chosen subject matter is the history, anthropology and mythology of everyday life. Her best-selling books, including Much Depends on Dinner and The Gift of Thanks, have been translated into six languages. She appears frequently on radio and television and has lectured extensively in Canada. She taught Greek and Latin at York University and delivered the CBC Massey Lectures in 2002.