Gerry Schwartz

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Gerald W. Schwartz, born c.1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a Canadian businessman. He received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Manitoba where he became an active brother of the Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity. He later received an MBA degree from Harvard University. In 1977 he co-founded CanWest Global Communications Inc, followed by Onex Corporation in 1983.

He has been a director of Scotiabank since 1999.

The Gerald Schwartz School of Business and Information Systems at St. Francis Xavier University was named in his honour in recognition of his donations to the University.

In 2005, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 Ontario Lifetime Achievement award. In 2006, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In 2006, he made a donation to University of Waterloo for $500,000 for an exchange program between University of Waterloo, Canada and University of Haifa, Israel. (more information)

Gerry Schwartz also sponsors several awards for JD/MBA students at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law and Rotman School of Management.

Recently Onex corporation was involved in the purchase of Qantas Airways along with others firms including Goldman Sachs. Onex has also entered into an agreement to purchase the Raytheon Aircraft Company from Raytheon.

[edit] Personal life

He is married to Heather Reisman, Chief Executive of Indigo Books and Music and has four grown children and four grandchildren.

[edit] Support for Israel

Schwartz is a well known, steadfast supporter of the State of Israel, with Z magazine calling him "one of Canada's leading Israel lobbyists." One of his initiatives has been to sending hundreds of IPODs to IDF troops. [1].

In 2005, he started 4-year full scholarship program for IDF's lone loldiers, who came to Israel on their own and served in IDF, called Heseg. [2] The Foundation offers scholarships to successful applicants in order to support their pursuit of academic excellence following their completion of military service. These scholarships consist of full stipends for academic studies as well as financial support for daily living expenses and related benefits.

Onex Corporation