TORONTO, October 15, 2002 -- Some of Toronto and Canada's top business and community leaders meet this month for the first time to form the inaugural Board of Directors for the York University Foundation.

Chaired by Timothy Price, Chairman of Brascan Financial Corporation, the Board of Directors of the York University Foundation will provide fund raising leadership and support aimed at taking the University's goals and ambitions for student programming, research and infrastructure to a new level.

"The directors are energized and ready to focus on helping deliver results for York University," says Price. "Our role is to provide leadership and open doors for the Foundation staff and other volunteers. The local and national communities look to York to produce graduates who challenge the ordinary, research that defies boundaries and a culture that thrives on daring thinking and curiosity. Leading universities like York need top-level financial support and we're here to build that capacity."

Fund raising through the York University Foundation is an innovative approach to building leadership and mobilizing community support for the University's goals and ambitions. Modeled on the approach taken by some Canadian and U.S. universities, the Foundation is an independent entity with its own Board of Directors. This arm's-length entity supports the University's fund raising priorities and provides a high level of accountability to its donors.

Paul Marcus, President and CEO of the Foundation remarks, "Since the Foundation was established earlier this year, we have worked hard to find the right leadership for the Board of Directors. We are all thrilled to be working with a group of people who know the value of philanthropy first hand and who are prepared to help us with our mandate to raise significant funding for York." Adds Marcus, "There are a lot of worthy charities in Toronto and in Canada, and building York University is a meaningful priority for these community leaders. Well-educated and pioneering students build stronger societies and economies. Pairing that education with York's vibrant and dynamic cultural experience, our graduates and researchers redefine the possible. The Foundation is here to deliver enhanced resources to them."

Directors of the Foundation include:

Mr. Avie Bennett, O.C., O.Ont., Chair, McClelland & Stewart Ltd. & Chancellor of York University

Mr. Marshall Cohen, O.C., Counsel, Cassels Brock and Blackwell LLP

Mr. Ivan Fecan, President and CEO, Bell Globemedia Inc.

Ms. Margot Franssen, O.C., President and Partner, The Body Shop Canada

Mr. Lindsay Gordon, COO, HSBC Bank Canada

Ms. Alonna Goldfarb, Principal, Goldfarb Intelligence Marketing

Mr. John Hunkin, CEO, Chair and Director, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Group of Companies

Ms. Julia Koschitzky, Chair, Advisory Committee, Centre for Jewish Studies

Mr. Allan T. Lambert, O.C., Group Chairman of Brascan Corporation

Dr. Lorna Marsden, President & Vice-Chancellor of York University

Mr. Robert W. Martin, President and CEO of Consumers' Gas (retired)

Mr. Steve Mirkopoulos, Vice-President, Cinespace Studios

Mr. Tim Price, Chair, Brascan Financial Corp.

Mr. Seymour Schulich, C.M., Chair, Newmont Capital Ltd.

Mr. Joseph D. Sorbara, Principal, The Sorbara Group, Counsel, Tanzola and Sorbara

Mr. Henry Wu, President, Liverton Hotels International Inc.

York University is dedicated to producing graduates who apply their blue-chip credentials in ways that lead to the unexpected and the extraordinary. With internationally celebrated academic programs and visionary research, Canada's third-largest university is renowned for looking beyond the ordinary, challenging the boundaries and redefining the possible.

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