Presenter0:03
Thank you, John. Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, honored guests, faculty, good afternoon. I am honored to be reading this citation today because you'll see what a deserving recipient we have. The highest honor the Senate of a university can confer upon an individual is an honorary doctorate. At the University of Manitoba, the criteria are very clear: they include distinguished achievement in scholarship, the arts, or public service. I am pleased to introduce today's recipient, Mr. Ernest Rady.
Ernest Rady is a nice guy. So true is this characterization that in 2012 he was celebrated as the Nice Guy of the Year by the San Diego Nice Guys charity. A few years later, San Diego's main daily newspaper named him its City's Person of the Year in 2015. Mr. Rady is loved because he creates opportunities for others to succeed, whether he is supporting this institution, our common alma mater, the Jewish community in his birthright city of Winnipeg, a children's hospital, or the city's world-famous zoo. Mr. Rady is a leader determined to change lives. This is what visionaries do.
In 2009, Mr. Rady and his sisters Marjorie Blankstein and Mendel Olynyk, who are here today, established the MinDmar Professorship in Human Simulation at the University of Manitoba's College of Medicine, which has transformed how our medical students learn and ultimately how they practice medicine. It is no surprise that Mr. Rady and his family chose to support medical training at the University of Manitoba. Their father was a deeply respected member of Winnipeg's medical community and a great friend of the University of Manitoba. He taught his children the importance of giving back to the community.
Mr. Rady recognizes his tremendous capacity to impact the health and well-being of young people. In 2006, Mr. Rady and his company American Assets Inc. donated 60 million dollars to San Diego's Children's Hospital. Driven to do more, this past year Mr. Rady pledged a further 120 million dollars to the hospital to establish the Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute. This is the largest donation ever made to the Rady Children's Hospital Foundation, and its impact on sick children and their families is immeasurable.
Most recently, in April of this year, he donated 100 million dollars to the Rady School of Management, a school he founded at the University of California in San Diego. Mr. Rady's impact is vast, with philanthropic gifts well in excess of 200 million dollars spread among an array of charities. He has the foresight to use his resources to challenge others to participate in advancing their communities. He also has the determination to give his time as a committed volunteer whose service is sought after by numerous organizations, such as the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, and Junior Achievement Winnipeg.
An entrepreneur at heart, Mr. Rady has founded several successful businesses, including American Assets Trust in 1967. He is currently chairman of this and other businesses and sits on the board of a number of corporations in the United States and Canada. A trailblazer in the business world, his skillful leadership has steered his companies to tremendous success in financial services, investment management, real estate, and other industries. Mr. Rady has received many honors for both his charitable work and his professional achievements. Most notably, Ernst & Young named him its 2009 Financial Services Entrepreneur of the Year for the United States and presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Although Mr. Rady calls California home today, his path to success started right here at the University of Manitoba, where he received his Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws. It is fitting that he now returns to his alma mater to have his accomplishments and impacts recognized by the University of Manitoba's highest award, an honorary degree. The University of Manitoba is proud to award an honorary Doctor of Law degree to Mr. Rady: a loving family man, visionary philanthropist, savvy businessman, and truly nice guy who has transformed the lives of many.
Mr. Chancellor, it is an honor for me to ask, on behalf of the Senate of the University of Manitoba, that you confer upon Mr. Ernest Rady the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.
