Robert Prichard is the non-executive chairman of the law firm Torys LLP, President Emeritus of the University of Toronto and the Visitor at Massey College.
Prichard was a professor of law at the University of Toronto from 1976 to 2001, specializing in law and economics. He taught torts, labour law, products liability, economic regulation and economic analysis of law. He also taught at the law schools of Yale (1982-83) and Harvard (1983-84 and 2000-01). He served as Dean of the University of Toronto Law School from 1984 to 1990. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2008 and received the University of Toronto Law School’s 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Prichard served as the 13th president of the University of Toronto from 1990 to 2000. He also served as chair of the Council of Ontario Universities, on the boards of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the International Association of Universities, and on the executive committee of the Association of American Universities. In 2001, Rob received the David Smith Award for his contributions to public policy in higher education and in 2011 received the Champion of Public Education Award. He now serves as a trustee of Central European University.
Prichard’s business sector experience includes serving as president and CEO of Torstar Corporation, a leading Canadian media company with newspaper and book publishing businesses, from 2002 to 2009. He served as the Chairman of BMO Financial Group. He is a director of Onex Corporation (Lead Director) and Alamos Gold and a member of the International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold. Rob has previously served as a director of numerous other public companies. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
In the public sector, Prichard serves as chair of VIA HFR, the federal crown corporation building passenger rail service between Toronto and Quebec City. From 2010-2018, Prichard served as chairman of Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, where he served previously as president and CEO from 2009 to 2010. He has also served as a member of both Canada's Economic Advisory Council and Ontario’s Economic Advisory Panel. He has been an honouree of the Public Policy Forum for contributions to Canadian public policy.
In the volunteer sector, Prichard has served as chair of the Hospital for Sick Children, a director of the Toronto Community Foundation and chair of the Visiting Committee for Harvard Law School. He was also Vice-Chair of Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council, a trustee of University Health Network, a director of the Royal Ontario Museum, a governor of Upper Canada College, a commissioner of the Ontario Law Reform Commission, a member of the Greater Toronto Task Force (Golden Task Force) and a member of the Advisory Board of the World Bank Institute.
Prichard has been recognized by appointment as an officer of the Order of Canada and as a member of the Order of Ontario. He has also received honorary degrees from ten colleges and universities in Canada and the United States.
