birth_place nationality article_title name occupation
hamilton , ontario canadian richard alway
 richard alway educator
richard alway

richard alway , is a canadian educator and a prominent catholic layman .
he was the first lay president and vice-chancellor of the university of st. michael 's college , a college at the university of toronto .
he is currently praeses -lrb- president -rrb- of the pontifical institute of mediaeval studies in toronto .
born in hamilton , ontario , he graduated from the university of toronto summa cum laude in 1962 .
he was a gold medalist in philosophy at st. michael 's college and has two graduate degrees in modern history from the university of toronto .
he was a broadcast commentator on canada 's largest radio station , cfrb , for ten years between 1976 and 1986 , and acted as publisher of the catholic register , canada 's largest catholic newspaper for two years at the request of cardinal emmett carter , following the sudden death of father sean o'sullivan .
alway was founding chairman of the cathedral council of st. michael 's cathedral and has taken a leading role in various initiatives to promote further understanding and cooperation between the roman catholic and anglican churches in canada .
at the request of the anglican and roman catholic archbishops of toronto he organized and chaired a symposium on inter-church relations that was attended by over 300 priests from the two church communities .
as well as being president of the pontifical institute of mediaeval studies at the university of toronto , he recently served in the additional capacity of ministry supervisor of the toronto catholic district school board -lrb- 2009 -- 11 -rrb- .
he is currently chairman of the c.d. howe memorial foundation .
an active collector of canadian art he has donated works from his collection to a number of ontario galleries .
dr. alway has served on a number of boards of voluntary associations including the canadian educational standards institute , and currently is a member of the board and the executive committee of st. michael 's hospital in toronto ; vice-chair of the board and chair of the executive committee of the canadian catholic bioethics institute and a member of the board of the belmont house foundation in toronto .
in 1986 he was appointed by order in council as acting director of the national gallery of canada on leave from the university of toronto .
he remained in this position during the construction phase of the new gallery building in ottawa .
while at the national gallery he was also appointed chairman and c.e.o. of the ontario heritage foundation , the province 's lead agency for architectural , archaeological , and natural heritage , a post he held for the maximum allowable two three-year terms .
he is the chair of the historic sites and monuments board of canada , a position in which he has served since 1996 .
in the past he has served on a number of national cultural boards and advisory committees .
a member of the board of trustees of the national museums of canada from 1979 to 1986 , he was chairman of the national gallery of canada , of the national programmes committee of the national museums , and at one point acting chairman of the national museum of natural sciences , as well as a member of the board of the national postal museum and the canadian opera company .
in 1989 , he was made a member of the order of canada and was promoted to officer in 1998 .
he was awarded the order of ontario in 2001 .
he was appointed knight of magistral grace of the sovereign military order of malta , knight of the order of the holy sepulchre , and knight grand cross with star of the order of st. gregory the great by his holiness pope john paul ii , the highest church recognition for a layman .
he is the first person from toronto to receive this order .
he holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from the university of toronto and is an honorary fellow of trinity college , toronto .
