David Flaherty

David Flaherty and Elizabeth Gerow
David, past president of Pacific Opera Victoria, with aspiring opera singer, Elizabeth Gerow.

A ‘private’ man, David gives to inspire others

David Flaherty was first given “access to the stacks” as an 18-year-old honours student at the University of Alberta. He spent the next 30 years of his life in and out of university libraries, building his academic and professional career as a specialist in privacy and information policy issues and appreciating a tactile connection to books and journals. Now retired from academic life, David says he still accesses the library regularly, albeit mostly online. 

Philanthropy has become an increasingly important part of David’s life, but it wasn’t until recently that he turned his thoughts to supporting a university scholarship. “I used to believe that what I could give would be a drop in the bucket for universities, but I’ve been persuaded that even a modest amount of money can make a difference to students,” he says. David was offered a scholarship in 1960 worth $225. Back then it would have covered the cost of his tuition for a whole year.

Paying homage to love of research

David worked closely with the University Librarian to create a scholarship that paid homage to his love of research. It recognizes an academically outstanding undergraduate student in any discipline who can show how they’ve utilized library resources for a class project, assignment or research paper. The inaugural recipient, Elizabeth Gerow, is a music student who says the library’s DVD, CD and even LP collections are “a goldmine for an aspiring opera singer!”

The popularity of the award helped David realize how much students need, and appreciate, this unique type of scholarship. “I was shocked to hear that 60 people applied for the $500 scholarship,” he says. “So I’m going to double the size of the endowment.” David’s new gift will be added to his initial $10,000 gift to create a $50,000 endowed scholarship: the David Harris Flaherty Scholarship. Although David is understandably, given his profession, a private man, he’s agreed to put his name to the scholarship in the hope that it will inspire others.