Upper Canada College
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John Black Aird ’41

Industry: Politics

A career politician and passionate advocate for the individuals with disabilities; served as a Liberal senator before becoming chairman of the Institute of Research on Public Policy in Montreal; was appointed chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University in 1977; served as Ontario’s 23rd lieutenant-governor; named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1993.

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David Ross Beatty ’61

Industry: Economics

A renowned economist and expert on corporate governance; a former president of George Weston Foods; served as an economic adviser to the prime minister of Papua New Guinea during its transition from an Australian colony to an independent country; was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1992, for his working in the developing world.

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Christopher Chapman ’45

Industry: Filmmaking

A writer, editor, director and cinematographer who pioneered the split-screen filming technique; won the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short in 1968, with his movie A Place to Stand (which played at Expo 67); awarded the Order of Canada in 1987; bestowed an honorary Doctor of Laws by Ryerson University in 2000; served as president of both the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the Directors Guild of Canada.

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Tom Clark ’71

Industry: Journalism

A career broadcast journalist, with a 40-year tenure covering all manner of stories, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the war in Iraq; former Washington bureau chief for CTV.

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Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn 1881

Industry: Military

Received a Victoria Cross – the British Commonwealth’s highest award for military bravery -- during the Second Boer War

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Brian Conacher ’61

Industry: Sports

A member of the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs, who downed the Montreal Canadiens and won the Stanley Cup in six games; a member of the Canadian hockey team at the 1965 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria; authored the book Hockey in Canada: The Way It Is!

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Jim Cuddy ’74

Industry: Music

An internationally-renowned, two-time Juno award-winning vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and one of the frontmen for the band Blue Rodeo; has recorded four solo albums and performs live with the Jim Cuddy Band; made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013.

On UCC’s Impact: “At UCC there was no stigma to being accomplished,” he says. “I got my appreciation back [for excelling].”

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Robertson Davies ’32

Industry: Publishing

A former boarder at UCC and one of the leading figures in Canada’s literary canon; best known for his Deptford Trilogy, which includes the classic novel Fifth Business; a former editor-in-chief of now-defunct Canadian magazine Saturday Night; noted playwright; received the Stephen Leacock Medal for humour in 1955.

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Leonard Dick

Industry: Television and film / Entertainment

A Writers Guild of America- and Emmy-award winning television producer and writer; worked on TV hits like Lost, The Good Wife and House.

On UCC’s Impact: “There’s a real advantage to the Canadian sensibility. Hollywood indulges a level of bad behaviour. But it pays to be nice and professional.”

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Melvyn Douglas ’13

Industry: Film

A double Academy Award-winning actor, picking up accolades for his roles in Being There and Hud; he also won an Emmy for a CBS Playhouse special called Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night

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Alexander Roberts Dunn 1848

Industry: Military

Received Canada’s first Victoria Cross -- the British Commonwealth’s highest award for military bravery -- for saving lives during the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War.

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Sir John Craig Eaton 1891

Industry: Retail

Served as president of the T. Eaton Company from 1907 until 1922, succeeding his father, Timothy, who founded the Eaton’s department store chain in 1907; known for expanding the popular Canadian retail chain nationally; a generous benefactor, who, together with his mother, donated land and funds to build the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto.

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Michael Evans ’76

Industry: Sports, finance and e-commerce

As an athlete, won the first gold medal for Canada as a member of the men’s eight rowing team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California; was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2003; former vice-chair of multinational investment bank and financial services company Goldman Sachs; appointed president of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2015.

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Brendan Fraser ’87

Industry: Film

A successful actor and former UCC boarding student with leading roles in a number of Hollywood movies, like School Ties, George of the Jungle, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Mummy franchise.

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Walter Lockhart Gordon ’22

Industry: Politics and public policy

Minister of Finance in Lester B. Pearson’s cabinet; chaired the Royal Commission on Canada’s Economic Prospects; instrumental in establishing a Committee for an Independent Canada in 1970; served as chancellor of York University from 1973 to 1977.

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Blake Hutcheson ’80

Industry: Real estate

President and CEO of Oxford Properties Group Inc., which manages real estate assets globally on behalf of OMERS, one of Canada's largest pension plans.

On UCC’s Impact: “I learned a lot about life and responsibility as a boarder at UCC, and I'm committed to seeing it continue – better than ever – for other young men who have the privilege of experiencing this same opportunity.”

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Foster Hewitt ’21

Industry: Sports and media

A broadcaster considered the voice of hockey in Canada for more than 28 years; was famous for his play-by-play of Toronto Maple Leafs games; his claim to fame is coining the phrase, “He shoots, he scores!”; inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965; made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1972.

On UCC’s Impact: “I partially absorbed the wisdom of the masters, and while I usually squeezed through examinations, there were few indications that a noted scholar was about to appear,” he wrote in his autobiography with his trademark humour.

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Michael Ignatieff ’65

Industry: Politics and education

An author, historian, professor and former leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the opposition from 2008 until 2011; has held senior academic positions at Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and the University of Toronto; appointed president of Central European University in Budapest in 2016; named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2016.

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Henry N. R. Jackman ’50

Industry: Philanthropy and finance

A well-known philanthropist who served as Ontario’s lieutenant-governor from 1991 to 1997; appointed chancellor of the University of Toronto in 1997, after which he donated the largest gift of its kind to a Canadian university; named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.

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Jameel Jaffer ’90

Industry: Civil liberties

The founding director of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute; former deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and former director of its Center for Democracy.

On UCC’s Impact: “I thought they were exceptional teachers at the time and I am even more sure of it today. It’s been more than 20 years but I still remember specific conversations that I had with each of them.”

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Ravi Jain ’99

Industry: Theatre

An accomplished director who helmed Prince Hamlet for the National Art Centre’s 2018-19 theatre season; a play he performed with his mother, A Brimful of Asha, had a successful multi-year run in Toronto.

On UCC’s Impact: “Going to UCC it was easy to feel like you didn’t have to choose the traditional path,” he says. “The school is still a part of me.”

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Stephen Leacock 1887

Industry: Publishing and education

A world-renowned humorist and author of 60 books, with Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town among his most notab­­le work; held a position as an economics and political theory professor at McGill University from 1900 until his retirement in 1936; wrote Elements of Political Science in 1906, which became the standard textbook on the subject matter for more than 20 years.

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Joseph B. MacInnis ’56

Industry: Deep sea exploration

The first Canadian to lay eyes on the Titanic shipwreck; his footage of the famous wreckage inspired James Cameron to make the blockbuster Hollywood film; lead the team that discovered the Breadalbane, Canada’s northernmost shipwreck; was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976, and has received six honorary degrees.

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Michael MacMillan ’74

Industry: Entertainment media

Cofounder of Atlantis Films and the former executive chairman of Alliance Atlantis, a TV and film production house with 13 Canadian TV networks, which was sold It to Canwest in 2007; launched Blue Ant Media in 2011; co-founded Samara, a charity dedicated to reconnecting citizens to politics; co-owner and co-founder of Closson Chase, a vineyard in Prince Edward County.

On UCC’s Impact: “I was addicted right from the start,” MacMillan told The Globe and Mail of making films during his years at UCC. “The place tolerated it; they let me do my own thing and that made all the difference. It allowed me to find out what I wanted to do.”

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Peter C. Newman ’47

Industry: Journalism

A preeminent Canadian journalist with an impressive six-decade career; author of 20-plus books; former editor of the Toronto Star and Maclean’s; is a Companion of the Order of Canada, and has received countless honours from peers, including a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Journalism Foundation.

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Sir Henry Pellatt 1876

Industry: Military and finance

Served as a rifleman with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, for which he was knighted by King Edward VII; co-founded the Toronto Electric Light Co.; was instrumental in bringing hydro-electricity to the streets of Toronto; built Casa Loma in 1914, his castle-like personal residence south of the college, which is now a major Toronto landmark

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John Ross Robertson 1850

Industry: Philanthropy and medicine

A dedicated philanthropist who was instrumental in the creation of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children; served as chairman of the trustees’ board for the hospital for 27 years, during which time he attracted major financial support from prominent donors.

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Edward (Ted) Rogers ’51

Industry: Broadcasting

The founder of Rogers Communications, responsible for introducing Canadians to cellphones and high-speed internet; a renowned philanthropist; named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1990.

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Michael Snow ’48

Industry: Art

A world-renowned multimedia artist known for his Walking Woman series, the flock of Canada geese that grace Toronto’s Eaton Centre (entitled Flight Stop), and the sculptures of cheering fans (called The Audience) adorning Toronto’s Rogers Centre; made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981, and promoted to Companion in 2007; received the first Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2000; recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.

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Tom Szaky ’01

Industry: Sustainable Entrepreneurship

The founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle materials (the company has won more than 50 awards for entrepreneurship); named the “#1 CEO under 30” in the July 2006 issue of Inc. magazine.

On UCC’s Impact: “The big thing I appreciate, that was unique to the setting, were the resources, the extras. It wasn't just geography. I came up with ideas and I could test them. A big part of education is testing,” he told The Globe and Mail. “I was able to run a big fashion show; that had never been done before. It was the biggest production the school had ever seen. I was able to look beyond grades and think outside the box.”

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Galen Weston ’92

Industry: Business

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of George Weston Limited, and Executive Chairman of Loblaw Companies Limited.

On UCC’s Impact: “I learned the power of good communication, whether it was from my English teacher Ross Morrow, who taught me how to succinctly put words on a page, or Marshall Webb, who taught me how to engage emotionally on the stage.”

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Michael Wilson ’55

Industry: Business and politics

A former Member of Parliament and Finance Minister under Brian Mulroney’s leadership; former Chancellor of Trinity College and former Chancellor of the University of Toronto; former Canadian Ambassador to the United States; appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003 and promoted to Companion in 2010. Wilson, our Old Boy of Distinction 2018, passed away Feb. 10, 2019.

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