Meet our donors
Who are our generous donors?
The spaces and collections of the UVic library system are shaped largely by our donors – the passionate philanthropists who appreciate the library’s role in preserving all forms of knowledge and providing an environment that supports teaching, research and learning for the entire community.
Early visionaries like Thomas Shanks McPherson, Professor Roger Bishop and, more recently, William C. Mearns exemplify the rare personification of passion, leadership, and benevolence.
Today, our donors continue to help shape the library into a state-of-the-art facility. As we seek to redefine learning, research, and community to meet the new reality of 21st century education we encourage you to join our visionaries, become a champion of the library, and share your passions.
Contributors to Library Student Scholarships
David Harris Flaherty Scholarship
David Harris Flaherty
David Harris Flaherty served a six-year, non-renewable term as the first Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Province of British Columbia (1993-99).
Flaherty began his involvement with privacy issues as an assistant to Alan F. Westin at Columbia University in 1964. His first book was Privacy in Colonial New England (1972). In 1974, he started comparative public policy work in Europe and North America that led to a series of books, including Protecting Privacy in Surveillance Societies: The Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden, France, Canada, and the United States (1989). Flaherty has written or edited fourteen books.
He is an honors History graduate of McGill University (1962) and has an MA and Ph.D. from Columbia University. His teaching career, from 1965 to 1993, included Princeton University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Western Ontario, where he was Professor of History and Law from 1972 to 1999 and is now Professor Emeritus. He was the first director (1984-89) of its Centre for American Studies. He has held fellowships and scholarships at Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, and Georgetown Universities. In 1992-93 David Harris Flaherty was a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC and a Canada-US Fulbright Scholar in Law. Flaherty was an Adjunct Professor in Political Science at the University of Victoria from 1999 to 2006.
Flaherty was President of Pacific Opera Victoria for four years from 2010-2014. He is also an Honorary Life Member of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
William Petrie Scholarship
William Petrie
Contributors to Special Collections
Bessie Brooks Winspear
Winspear
Bessie Brooks Winspear was the wife of philanthropist Francis Winspear.
Their son, Bill Winspear, gave a $1 million gift in support of the library's expansion campaign, and, per his wishes, honoured his late mother with a named space in the library.
Another son, Claude, also contributed to this legacy in his mother's name through a $250,000 bequest from the Winspear Foundation.
Dr. Bruce L. and Mrs. Dorothy E. Brown
Bruce and Dorothy Brown gave numerous gifts to the University of Victoria, and were particularly thoughtful and generous to the McPherson Library's Special Collections. They took great pleasure in collecting rare items, often with the intent of donating them.
Bruce and Dorothy expressly wanted to provide students with the opportunity to study a range of artifacts of aesthetic and historical interest. They collected widely, often during their extensive travels.
Mr. Cyril J. Fox
During his 50 years as a Reuters and Associated Press journalist, C.J. (Cy) Fox amassed a vast collection of works by English painter and writer Wyndham Lewis and other 20th century non-conformist writers. Cy Fox donated his impressive collection to the University of Victoria Libraries' Special Collections in 2006-07.
Learn MoreDr. Gwladys Downes
She was also generous to the UVic Libraries through a bequest in 2005, leaving a substantial financial legacy to Special Collections, which created the McPherson Library Special Collections Fund. In addition, the bulk of her extensive library was left to the University of Victoria Foundation. Dr. Downes was a voracious and wide ranging reader. She was not a collector of rare books but purchased new titles in the many subjects of interest to her. First and foremost this meant the work of Canadian poets, in both English and French, as well as collections of American and British poets, especially of one of her favorites, Ted Hughes.
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Mr. Ivor Burrows
Born in Vancouver, Ivor Burrows grew up on Beach Drive listening to the CBC and reading. His parents had a cottage in Sechelt, where he spent summers on the oceans in his dugout canoe fostering a life-long love of the ocean and for the west coast of British Columbia.
Ivor's chosen career was in forestry, where he earned the respect of his colleagues and worked to uphold best practices in forestry management.
Learn MoreMr. Jim and Mrs. Doreen Rainer
Rainer
Jim and Doreen Rainer's love of books and the book arts, along with fond memories of Victoria College, are the foundation of their endowed fund for Special Collections.
Established in 1994, this fund supports the acquisition of unique and special items that complement our rare books collection.
Learn MoreMr. John di Castri
The most recent addition to our Architectural Collection is the archives of award-winning and penultimate west coast designer John A. di Castri. John's footprint can be seen all over Victoria, including UVic's original Students' Union Building (1963), the Cornett Building (1966), the recently purchased Queenswood (1967) and the Interfaith Chapel (1984).
Victoria-born and raised, John spent his career inspiring the city with his exceptional talent for modern design.
Learn MoreMs. Rikki Swin
Rikki Swin was born in Chicago in 1947. In 1970, she started Tec Air, Inc., a US manufacturing business specializaing in plastic injection molding. The business grew to annual revenues of US $20 million and, in 1999, she sold the business.
Taking her business acumen and the resources available to her, Ms. Swin founded the Rikki Swin Institute (RSI).
Learn MoreMr. Brian Pollick
Brian Pollick returned to university after a 40-year career in the Justice sector in Alberta and BC. He earned a MA (Art History) from UVic in 2011. He is currently a PhD candidate in UVic's Art History and Visual Studies Department and expects to complete his Doctorate sometime in 2017. As a PhD candidate, he has held the prestigious Joseph Armand Bombardier Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2013-16) and is currently a Vandekerkhove Family Trust Graduate Student Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society.
Throughout his graduate studies, Brian has relied on primary source material, including originals and facsimile editions of medieval manuscripts, such as those held within UVic Libraries Special Collections. Knowing how valuable this research material is to a student's scholarly pursuits, he and his wife, Heather Lindstedt, contributed funds to enable the purchase of several manuscripts, and in 2015 he graciously donated funds to create the Medieval Manuscript Fund. This fund supports the acquisition of medieval and early modern manuscripts based on the teaching and research needs of faculty and students pursuing research and studies related to the Middle Ages.
With his donation, Brian aims to inspire others to support the unique and rare holdings of the UVic Libraries through new donations to acquire additional material for teaching and research, or to help the Special Collections librarians preserve current holdings.
Contributors to McPherson Library expansion
UVic alumnus and founder of the Hong Kong based K.Wah Group, Dr. Lui is a gifted entrepreneur and distinguished philanthropist.
His early contribution to the library expansion campaign continues to significantly impact student learning. Students now have a space in the library to receive tutoring in research, writing, math, statistics, chemistry, physics, and astronomy.
The C.W. Lui Learning Commons is located on the main level of the William C. Mearns Centre for Learning - McPherson Library.
Vancouver based philanthropists Dr. Allan Yap and Elsa Yap are honorary patrons of the Asia Partners Fund at UVic.
Their substantial contribution to the library expansion campaign is honoured by the Allan and Elsa Yap Classroom, located on the main floor of the William C. Mearns Centre for Learning - McPherson Library.
This classroom is equipped with 28 computer work stations and has provided a much needed research/teaching space for students and faculty.
A Victoria College graduate and long-time philanthropist, Russell has supported various UVic projects over his lifetime.
His contribution to the library expansion campaign allows the library to provide a private viewing room for course-related audio and visual materials.
Making an early contribution to the library expansion campaign, this Vancouver-based philanthropist dedicated his gift to his parents.
The Mr. Shu-Fond Li & Mrs. Wan-Yuet-Yung Seminar Room on the lower level of the William C. Mearns Centre for Learning - McPherson Library is a wireless classroom that provides researchers and students a space to view materials from the Archives and Special Collections.
Hong Kong based entrepreneur Dr. Lee was a champion of cross-cultural cooperation and exchange. As a major supporter of the library’s expansion campaign, we commemorate his commitment to philanthropy with the Dr. Leo Tung Hai Lee Room.
Located in the lower level of the William C. Mearns Centre for Learning - McPherson Library, this room serves as the library’s premier reception space used to celebrate special exhibits and openings.