John and Myrna Daniels’ most recent gift to UHN will support a number of areas, including redeveloping the operating rooms at Toronto Western Hospital. Right: John and Myrna Daniels with dean Richard Sommer and recipients of the John and Myrna Daniels Scholarship.
Through a combination of business leadership and social conscience, John and Myrna Daniels have impacted the lives and careers of people in Greater Toronto and around the world as their gifts in education, health care, and the architecture and arts sectors continue to transform the causes they most care about.
To honour their contributions, the couple will receive the 2017 Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Greater Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
For more than 35 years, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have given back to these communities that they believe have given so much to them.
Accepting an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto, John Daniels said, "I have come to understand that there is not only an economic bottom line, but a social and environmental bottom line," and this philosophy is evident in the couple's philanthropy.
John and Myrna Daniels have donated millions of dollars to advance causes close to their hearts including $24-million to Mr. Daniels' alma mater, the University of Toronto, for what is now named the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, as well as ongoing support of Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals' University Health Network (UHN). Earlier this year, the couple announced a transformational $20-million gift to UHN to support three areas: the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (upgrading the cardiac catheterization labs), the Krembil Neuroscience Centre (redeveloping neurosurgery suites) and Transplant Program (to research and develop new treatments for liver disease).
Other health-care gifts have helped to fund a movie theatre at SickKids, the John H. Daniels Wing and John H. Daniels Cardiac Research Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital (where Mr. Daniels has served on the board of governors for 30 years), and endocrinology and ocular oncology research at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
John and Myrna Daniels have also been avid supporters of arts and culture. Their generosity helped to build Daniels Spectrum, a 60,000-square-foot cultural hub in Regent Park, and the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
While Mr. Daniels has achieved considerable success as an architect and real estate developer, his life in Canada has not always been easy. He arrived in Toronto with his family at the age of 12, just six months before the 1939 occupation by Germany of his home country of Poland. At the time, he didn't speak a word of English.
In his fourth year of a Bachelor of Architecture program at the University of Toronto, Mr. Daniels partnered with two classmates to buy land in North Toronto, which they divided into six lots and built houses on, doing much of the work themselves.
This was the beginning of a career in real estate development that spanned more than 50 years. After serving as chief executive officer of Cadillac Development Corporation, he started The Daniels Corporation in 1983. Throughout his career he has worked on landmark Toronto projects including the Eaton Centre, TD Centre and the Mississauga community of Erin Mills, and has built social housing and condominiums across the Greater Toronto Area.
But it's philanthropy to build communities and improve lives that now demands much of their attention. When they made the donation to UHN this year, the couple issued a statement that provides context for their generosity.
"Giving back to the community that has been so good to us is a way of life," they said. "Our foundation is proud to make this substantial donation to help advance the face of health care in our local community, in Canada and around the globe."
Richard Sommer, dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, says Mr. and Mrs. Daniels share a deep commitment to social upliftment.
"Through their generosity, the John and Myrna Daniels Scholars Award is making the finest education in architecture available to highly talented students, many of whom, like Mr. Daniels, are the first in their family to attend university," he says.
Concurring, Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto says, "The Daniels building at One Spadina Crescent is a brilliant success, already hailed by the Globe and Mail as 'one of the best Canadian buildings of the past decade.' It is enhancing U of T's standing as a major international hub for architecture and design. And it's a place where generations of talented students will begin to make their mark on communities across Canada and around the world."
Tennys Hanson, president and CEO of Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, says the Daniels have been longtime supporters of UHN and over the years have learned how UHN is a driver of medical innovation.
"We are honoured that the John and Myrna Daniels Foundation is helping us pursue the knowledge that makes all our lives better," she adds.
This content was produced by Randall Anthony Communications, in partnership with The Globe and Mail's advertising department. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.