Created By Kris Astaphan in Honour of His Parents
From the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Nexus.
Kris Astaphan (’84) pictured along with his two daughters, Kristel and Rebecca |
Kris Astaphan is a U of T man through and through. He holds a B.Sc. ('74); MBA ('77), and an LL.B ('84) all from U of T, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1986. He recently made a $50,000 gift to the Faculty of Law in honour of his parents - Joseph and Josephine Astaphan.
"My first purpose for creating this bursary was to pay tribute to my parents, who supported 10 siblings and 2 nephews in their pursuits of higher education. They knew that education was a route to freedom. Despite being of very modest means, and being from a relatively poor Caribbean island (St. Kitts), they made sure that each of us got the best education possible and gave us each the opportunity to gain a profession," said Astaphan.
"My second reason for establishing this bursary was to commemorate the fact that I would not be where I am today without the law school education that I received from U of T. Lastly, I wanted to take a step to do whatever I can to help make sure that no student in Ontario - or even Canada - loses the opportunity to complete a legal education due to a lack of funds," he added.
From 1986-93, Astaphan worked at Aird & Berlis in taxation law. He has also held various executive positions within the AIC Group from 1993 to 2005. He served as the Executive VP of AIC Limited and the Deputy Chairman of the National Commercial Bank (Jamaica) Limited.
Since 2005, he has been pursuing a number of start-ups, including an energy company that he says will be a big winner in hydrogen storage and distribution (lessening demand for fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions).
"Kris is an accomplished and committed alumnus whose generosity means a huge amount to the law school," said Dean Mayo Moran. "We are tremendously grateful for his support." Astaphan has two daughters in university, one in Ontario and one in Quebec. His father passed away in 1999 but his 87-year-old mother currently divides her time between her home in St. Kitts and visiting her children and grandchildren who are spread out around the world. By creating a bursary in their names, Astaphan is able to honour his parents' deep commitment to education, and help others at the same time.
"And this gift," he adds, smiling, "is just the beginning".
