Media Releases

Mary Anne Chambers to receive honorary degree at U of T

June 6, 2010

TORONTO, ON. – The Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to will hon­our Mary Anne Cham­bers, a for­mer Ontario cab­i­net min­is­ter and out­stand­ing vol­un­teer, on Wednes­day, June 9 at 2:00 p.m. with an hon­orary doc­tor of laws degree in recog­ni­tion of her exem­plary roles in pub­lic and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice.

An alum­na of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Scar­bor­ough, Cham­bers was elect­ed as a provin­cial Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment in 2003 after retir­ing from Sco­tia­bank as a senior vice-pres­i­dent. As Min­is­ter of Train­ing, Col­leges and Uni­ver­si­ties, she made sub­stan­tial improve­ments to the Ontario Stu­dent Assis­tance Pro­gram and intro­duced non-repayable income-based tuition grants for col­lege and uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. In her sub­se­quent role as Min­is­ter of Chil­dren and Youth Ser­vices, she intro­duced leg­is­la­tion to estab­lish an inde­pen­dent office of the provin­cial advo­cate for chil­dren and youth.

Cham­bers is also an out­stand­ing vol­un­teer, serv­ing as Gov­er­nor and Vice-Chair of the Gov­ern­ing Coun­cil of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Chair of the Unit­ed Way of Cana­da and Mem­ber of the Board of the Unit­ed Way of Greater Toron­to. She cur­rent­ly serves on the Boards of the Cen­tre for Addic­tion and Men­tal Health, and P.A.C.E. Cana­da, an orga­ni­za­tion that sup­ports ear­ly child­hood devel­op­ment.

Cham­bers spon­sors two Basic Schools in Jamaica. She has fund­ed schol­ar­ships for more than thir­ty first-year stu­dents in Cana­di­an uni­ver­si­ties and col­leges and also spon­sors an Aca­d­e­m­ic Men­tor­ship Pro­gram for mid­dle and high school stu­dents in part­ner­ship with the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Scar­bor­ough.

Mem­bers of the media are invit­ed to attend the con­vo­ca­tion cer­e­mo­ny, but seat­ing is very 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, June 8.

WHAT:          Mary Anne Cham­bers to receive hon­orary degree at spring con­vo­ca­tion. 

WHEN:           Wednes­day, June 9 at 2:00 p.m. Media need to RSVP in advance and should arrive no lat­er than 1:45 p.m. to ensure seat­ing. 

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

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For more infor­ma­tion and to RSVP:

con­tact media rela­tions at 416–978-0100