Friday, March 4, 2022

Maureen Kepston

University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumna Maureen Kempston Darkes (BA Vic 1970, JD 1973, Hon. LLD 1996), has been inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Inductees are chosen as Companions of the Order of the Business Hall of Fame to honour their contributions to the economic development and prosperity of Canada.

From 1976 until her retirement in 2009, Kempston Darkes held senior leadership positions within General Motors including, president of General Motors of Canada, vice president of General Motors Corporation and Corporation Group vice president, GM Latin America, African and Middle East. She has served on the boards Canadian National Railway, Brookfield Asset Management, Irving Oil, Enbridge Inc., and Canadian Olympic Committee.

She is also a former Director of Bridgepoint Health Foundation. She has served as the former chair for major gifts for Women's College Hospital fundraising campaigns and co-chaired the BC Cancer Foundation's Millennium Campaign, focused on genome science and research into finding cures for and treatment of cancer.

In 1997, Kempston Darkes was awarded the Order of Ontario and in 2000, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. She holds a BA in history and political science from U of T's Victoria College and a JD from U of T Law. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1975.

Read her full bio on the Canadian Business Hall of Fame website

In 2020, Kempston Darkes received the faculty’s Distinguished Alumni Award for extraordinary public leadership and lifelong commitment to the community over the course of their career.

She will serve U of T Law as an Honorary Campaign Council Ambassador during the university's ambitious fundraising campaign, Defy Gravity.

This year's Canadian Business Hall of Fame induction and celebration will be held on May 12, 2022.