During 2024 Fall Convocation – running from Oct. 16 to 25 – York University will award honorary doctor of laws degrees to four individuals recognized as changemakers and leaders in their fields.
Below are the honorary degree recipients in order of the Faculty ceremonies at which they will be honoured:
Mark Beckles
Thursday, Oct. 16 at 10:30 a.m. – Faculty of Education, Glendon College, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, Lassonde School of Engineering
As vice-president of social impact and innovation at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Beckles has over 25 years of experience in financial services, including executive leadership experience in banking, insurance, risk management and non-profit leadership.
He leads the strategic execution of RBC’s community investment initiatives focused on skills for a thriving future and driving more equitable prosperity. He also leads stakeholder relations, cultivating key relationships across Canada to advance RBC’s community investment priorities.
He is a board member of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and chairs the audit and finance committee. He devotes his time, too, on the board of Fulbright Canada, the advisory committee of the Lincoln M. Alexander Award, Global Skills Opportunity and the Canadian Multicultural LEAD Organization for Mentoring & Training.
He holds a master of business administration in international business from the University of Bradford, has completed executive programs at the Richard Ivey School of Business and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation.
Jeffrey Reading
Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 3:30 p.m. – Faculty of Health
Reading has more than three decades of experience enhancing knowledge in Indigenous health issues, both in Canada and globally. He obtained a master of science in 1991 and doctor of philosophy in 1994 in community health sciences from the University of Toronto, and was the inaugural scientific director of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research from 2000 to 2008.
In 2016, Reading was appointed the inaugural British Columbia First Nations Health Authority Chair in Heart Health and Wellness at St. Paul’s Hospital, based at Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Health Sciences. His Chair was renewed in 2021 for five years.
Reading was recently honoured as a member of the Order of Canada for his “groundbreaking contributions to Indigenous health research and for his leadership in bringing Indigenous perspectives to scientific and health institutions.”
Edward Sorbara
Thursday, Oct. 17 at 3:30 p.m. – Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies II
Sorbara has been principal of the Sorbara Group of Companies for over 57 years. He is involved in all phases of the real estate industry, including residential, industrial and commercial land development, industrial construction, and residential construction and property management.
Sorbara joined his family business in 1967, after completing a bachelor’s degree in commerce at the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Chicago.
He has received many accolades, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, honouring his significant contributions and achievements in both the community and Canada more broadly. In 2019, he received the Building Industry & Land Development Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his legacy in the building and land development sectors.
Sorbara continues to play an active role in supporting communities. He is a former United Way Greater Toronto board member and currently sits on the Archdiocese of Toronto Finance Council and the related Catholic Cemeteries' Board.
Robert Potts
Friday, Oct. 18 at 10 a.m. – Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law school
Potts is an experienced litigation counsel with a varied practice and extensive client list. He has been a partner at Blaney McMurtry LLP for over 45 years and also serves as the firm’s general counsel. He is a member of the law societies of both Ontario and Alberta and a former director of the Advocates Society.
Potts chairs his firm’s Indigenous Law Group, and has actively represented and counselled First Nations people since the early 1980s. In doing so, he has successfully negotiated several land claim settlements. He has been repeatedly voted for by his peers for the esteemed Best Lawyers in Canada list in the aboriginal law category, and is rated by Lexpert Canadian Legal Directory as a leading practitioner in Indigenous law.
Potts has defended solicitors in professional negligence suits and has also acted for clients in disputes involving real estate and business contracts, corporate disputes and mortgage enforcement remedies. He has served as defence counsel in several leading class actions, including Abdool, Bre-X and the class action stemming from the 2008 propane explosion in Toronto.