Dr. Fred Gilbert Fresh Start Award

Dr. Gilbert joined Lakehead in 1998 and retired in 2010 as Lakehead’s 6th President and Vice-Chancellor. With a long and distinguished career in education, he understood and valued the power of education. Prior to his passing in November 2020, Fred established a gift in his will in support of a scholarship at Lakehead Orillia. A legacy of leadership and innovation is rooted in the Dr. Fred Gilbert Fresh Start Award. Passionate in all things, Fred was a generous Lakehead donor. “Fred was a man of immense personal integrity, intellectual vigor, humour and very often, real kindness,” said his wife of 39 years, Dan (Diane) Gilbert. Awarded to a first-year student who self-identifies as having Indigenous ancestry, attending the Lakehead Orillia Campus, in any discipline based on satisfactory academic standing and financial need.