Media Releases

Dorothy Shoichet to receive honorary degree

November 8, 2010

TORONTO, ON. – On Wednes­day, Novem­ber 10 at 6 p.m., the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to will award Dorothy Shoichet an hon­orary doc­tor of laws degree in recog­ni­tion of her busi­ness lead­er­ship and tire­less vol­un­teer efforts, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the areas of edu­ca­tion and the arts.

Shoichet, a Toron­to native, earned a Polit­i­cal Sci­ence and Eco­nom­ics degree from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois before get­ting her start in the busi­ness world as co-man­ag­er of the Oxford Pic­ture Frame Com­pa­ny. While rais­ing three chil­dren, Shoichet helped grow the com­pa­ny into Canada’s largest man­u­fac­tur­er of pic­ture frame mould­ing and acces­sories. A pas­sion­ate admir­er and sup­port­er of the arts, she simul­ta­ne­ous­ly advanced her own for­mal edu­ca­tion in art and art his­to­ry, writ­ing and opera.

Shoichet is a strong advo­cate of edu­ca­tion and has ded­i­cat­ed much of her life to vol­un­teerism in this field. Her efforts have includ­ed serv­ing as direc­tor of Dare Arts, a pro­gram for at-risk chil­dren, and also as both Vice Pres­i­dent of the World ORT Union and Pres­i­dent of the Cana­di­an Women’s ORT, one of the world’s largest non-gov­ern­men­tal edu­ca­tion and train­ing orga­ni­za­tions. Her com­mit­ment to the arts is also reflect­ed in her stead­fast vol­un­teerism with the Kof­fler Cen­tre of the Arts and the Obsid­i­an The­atre.

Shoichet is an avid sup­port­er of the Toron­to Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra, the Cana­di­an Opera Com­pa­ny, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, as well as the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Mount Sinai Hos­pi­tal and Bay­crest.

Mem­bers of the media are invit­ed to attend the con­vo­ca­tion cer­e­mo­ny, but seat­ing is lim­it­ed and advance con­fir­ma­tion of atten­dance is required. Please RSVP to U of T media rela­tions at 416–978-0100 no lat­er than 3 p.m. on Tues­day, Novem­ber 9.

WHAT: Dorothy Shoichet to receive hon­orary degree at fall con­vo­ca­tion.

WHEN: Wednes­day, Novem­ber 10 at 6 p.m. Media need to RSVP in advance and should arrive no lat­er than 5:45 p.m. to ensure seat­ing.

WHERE: Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Con­vo­ca­tion Hall, 31 King’s Col­lege Cir­cle.

For more infor­ma­tion and to RSVP, please con­tact media rela­tions at 416–978-0100