Toronto, Oct. 11, 2012 – Donald A. Stewart, a leader in the insurance industry and an advocate of financial education, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws at York University on Friday, October 12. He will address graduates of the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program at the 10am Convocation in the McEwen Auditorium of the Seymour Schulich Building on York’s Keele Campus.
The former Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Financial Inc., where he led a distinguished career for more than 30 years, Stewart is a native of Scotland. He joined Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada in London, England, in 1969, and emigrated to Montreal in 1972. Though he left the company in 1974 to work as a consultant in Toronto, Stewart returned in 1980 to lead the Canadian Group Retirement Services Division. From 1986 to 1998 he held successive leadership positions in mutual funds, information technology, trust services, actuarial and worldwide operations. He was appointed CEO in 1998 and remained in that position until his retirement last year.
Stewart served as Chairman of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc., and as CEO of Sun Life Trust Company, and is currently Chairman of Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. Ltd. He serves as a Director of Sun Life Insurance & Annuity Co. of New York, International Insurance Society, Inc. and at Massachusetts Financial Services Company. He has also served as director or trustee on a number of other companies and funds.
In addition to an impressive background in business and insurance, Stewart is a champion of public education. In 2009, he was appointed Chairman of Canada’s National Task Force on Financial Literacy and was assigned a pan-Canadian mandate to encourage and enable Canadians to become competent managers of their personal finances.
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