On December 4, 2018, Canada lost a noted\nvisionary and philanthropist, Ralph Halbert. Born in Toronto in 1930, Ralph\ngraduated from NTCI in 1948 having been both a strong student and athlete. He\nwent on to attend the University of Toronto, graduating in 1954 with a degree\nin dentistry, and continued his studies at the University of Chicago in\nIllinois, specializing in orthodontics. He practiced in Toronto for about ten\nyears but gradually reduced his practice to focus on real estate developments. He\nand his partners established Glen Corporation, which developed residential\ncommunities, business parks and commercial developments throughout the GTA,\nincluding Bayview Hill in Richmond Hill and, in conjunction with Cadillac\nFairview, the Promenade shopping centre in Vaughan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the success\nof his business dealings, Dr. Halbert began to giveback, as he made sizable\ncontributions to educational and innovation programs in Canada and Israel.\nDeeply committed to the value of higher education, he believed in the importance\nof innovation and how that could be achieved\nthrough collaboration between universities across national boundaries.\nAccording to Janice Stein, founding director of the Munk School of Global\nAffairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, \u201cIt has taken the world\n25 years to catch up with Ralph Halbert\u2019s vision\u2026 His great achievement was to\nbring together networks of scholars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ralph was a board member of Fulbright\nCanada, an educational exchange between Canada and the U.S. but was best known\nfor his work fostering connections between Canada and Israel. In 1977, as the President of the Canadian Friends of\nthe Hebrew University, Ralph and his wife Rosyln established the Programme of\nCanadian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Renamed The Halbert\nCentre for Canadian Studies in 1995, the centre \u201cfosters\nresearch and promotes the understanding and knowledge of Canadian civilization\nin all its aspects among Israeli academics and the public at large.\u201d (Dr.\nHalbert discussed his work with the Centre for Canadian Studies in an interview\nposted on YouTube, http:\/\/www.cfhu.org\/video\/the-halbert-centre-for-canadian-studies-at-the-hebrew-university-of-jerusalem-building-bridges<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the University of Toronto\u2019s Munk School, Dr. Halbert\nsponsored the Halbert Exchange Program, promoting collaborative research\nbetween the University of Toronto and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem\nthrough the Halbert Network Fellowship for young faculty, the Halbert\nPostdoctoral Fellowship and the Exchange Program for graduate students. He and\nhis wife also supported scholars through the Roz and Ralph Halbert Professorship\nof Innovation at the Munk School\u2019s Innovation Policy Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2012, Ralph Halbert demonstrated his support of Jewish\nStudies by establishing the Ralph & Roslyn Halbert Fund for the Centre for\nJewish Studies to support the exchange of ideas in the areas of classical\nJudaism, Jewish thought and philosophy, Jewish history and modern Jewish\nculture. However, his philanthropy was not confined to areas of scholarship as he was a co-founder of Ramat Hasharon Israel Tennis Centre in Israel\nthat encouraged both Israeli and Arab children to learn respect for one another\nthrough playing tennis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nCanada, Dr. Halbert was one of the early backers of the Canadian Open tennis\ntournament (now known as the Rogers Cup) at York University. He and his wife\nwere also supportive of filmmaking and were early financial supporters of the\nFestival of Festivals (now known as the Toronto International Film Festival). Also\ninterested in the visual arts, the Halberts were both benefactors of the Art\nGallery of Ontario as well as the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa. \n\nRalph lived a rich and full life for 88 years and leaves behind an\neverlasting legacy as an exemplary family man and philanthropist who truly made\nan impact.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On December 4, 2018, Canada lost a noted visionary and philanthropist, Ralph Halbert. Born in Toronto in 1930, Ralph graduated from NTCI in 1948 having been both a strong student and athlete. He went on to attend the University of Toronto, graduating in 1954 with a degree in dentistry, and continued his studies at the … Continue reading Ralph Halbert (\u201948) (1930-2018)<\/span>