“Ontario’s Eve” Makes Bequest to Vic One

The University of Toronto’s first woman chancellor, Pauline McGibbon (BA 1933 VIC), chose to fund education as her final act of charity. McGibbon was 91 when she died in December 2001. Called “Ontario’s Eve” by literary scholar Northrop Frye, McGibbon was also the first female lieutenant-governor of both Ontario and Canada.

As part of her estate settlement, McGibbon made a bequest of more than $1 million to Victoria College, her alma mater. The gift will go toward Vic’s $10-million campaign goal and will help fund the Vic One program. This new program helps first-year students better integrate into the university environment and offers two streams: arts and humanities, and civic responsibilities and public life.

A longtime patron of the arts, McGibbon was named a companion of the Order of Canada in 1980.