Howard and Carole Tanenbaum, and Peter Gilgan to receive honorary doctorates
The university will recognize the distinguished careers and service of Peter Gilgan and Howard and Carole Tanenbaum with honorary doctorates as part of this fall’s convocation at the Ryerson Theatre, October 19-20.
Peter Gilgan (Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa) is founder and chief executive officer of Mattamy Homes, the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America. The company has sold more than 70,000 homes across Canada and the United States. A respected and dedicated community leader, Gilgan has made more than $150 million in charitable donations during his life, including a $30-million gift toward construction of a new patient-care tower for critically ill patients at St. Michael’s Hospital in 2014, and $40 million to the Hospital for Sick Children in 2012 (the largest gift to a pediatric hospital in Canadian history). He made a historic $15 million gift to Ryerson University for the development of the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Peter Gilgan will be awarded on October 19 by the Ted Rogers School of Management.
Howard Tanenbaum (Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa) is a lawyer, financier, real estate developer and art collector. He is involved in domestic and international real estate development and was a director and officer of the Warren Paving and Materials Group Ltd. until it merged with Lafarge Canada Ltd. Currently a director of Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, Tanenbaum also serves on the boards of several community and charitable organizations. Carole Tanenbaum (Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa) established the Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection at Holt Renfrew; has lectured at the Royal Ontario Museum and other public institutions about costume jewellry; and has written a book about her personal jewellry collection, Fabulous Fakes: A Passion for Vintage Costume Jewelry. Together, they have supported numerous art and photography programs/institutions, and run the Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation. At Ryerson, they are strongly committed to the Photography program, including helping the university acquire the Black Star Collection, a major photojournalistic holding of 292,000 black and white photographs from the 20th century. Howard and Carole Tanenbaum will be awarded October 20 by the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Communication and Design.
More than 2,300 students are approved to graduate during convocation. If you would like to help staff convocation, please contact Marija Urbanovica at marija.urbanovica@torontomu.ca.