Judy Goldring on Giving Back to the School That Shaped Her

^{Photo by Will Dang.}

By Joe Howell

I’ve always looked back on Vic as a place where you can really find yourself,” says Judy Goldring Vic 8T7, during a recent visit to Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

“You learn about your independence and about how you like to operate here,” she says, strolling around the beautiful campus many members of her family have called home.

Goldring, who is now president and head of global distribution at AGF Management Limited, a leading Canadian global asset management firm, does seem to have found her calling as an undergraduate at Victoria College. While studying economics with a minor in French, she was also actively involved in extracurriculars such as the Arts and Science Students’ Union, where she served as treasurer, and AIESEC, where she hosted exchange students.

“I always found myself interested in clubs that would help me develop leadership skills,” says Goldring. “And then Vic was where I would come to focus and to study. I always enjoyed studying at either the E.J. Pratt Library or the Emmanuel College Library— both are just wonderful spaces for peace and quiet.”

That’s one reason why she is donating $1 million to name the Goldring Reading Room in the stately Birge-Carnegie Building, with her brother Blake Goldring Vic 8T1 contributing another $500,000 toward the refurbishment of this iconic space on the Vic campus.

Birge-Carnegie, the Gothic Revival structure at the southeast corner of Charles Street and Queen’s Park Crescent, is undergoing a major revitalization. It served as Victoria College’s library from 1910 until 1961, when the Pratt library was completed, and has since been underutilized.

That will soon change, thanks in part to the generosity of the Goldring siblings.

“I think Birge-Carnegie is an unsung hero from a building perspective,” says Judy Goldring.

“It’s gorgeous; it just needs to get shined up so everybody can enjoy the space. Being able to provide another spot for peace, for that moment of reflection, is something Blake and I are really proud to support.”

The revitalization will transform Birge-Carnegie into a campus hub while retaining many of the original architectural details of the heritage-listed building. A signature part of the overall project will bring the “majestic Reading Room back to life,” says Mayes Rihani, associate director for major capital project management and planning.

“Once restored, the room will feature large pointed-arch windows with highly articulated stone ornamentation and surrounds, timber roof trusses with decorative components, and the reading room’s original wooden tables, designed for the space,” notes Rihani.

^{Architect's rendering of the restored Goldring Reading Room in Birge-Carnegie.}

The Goldring Reading Room promises to be the kind of space Judy Goldring would have enjoyed studying in herself while at Vic— and it will also come at a time when more student space on campus is dearly needed.

That’s a clear theme in the Goldring family’s long history of philanthropy at U of T: addressing identified needs. Blake and Judy Goldring were the lead donors toward the construction of the Goldring Student Centre, which doubled the space of the former Wymilwood building and brought Vic U’s student clubs, student government and other student services together under one roof.

Judy Goldring says she would have benefitted from such a place at Vic as a student living off-campus in the 1980s. “That’s why I wanted to help fund somewhere commuter students could gather— so they’d have that spot I felt was lacking when I was going through university.”

Her family also contributed $11 million toward the construction of the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, a gift initiated by the late Warren Goldring, father to Blake and Judy Goldring and a member of U of T’s Class of 1949.

The family does not have an obvious connection to sports, which makes the gift all the more remarkable. Judy Goldring once told The Varsity she joked with her father about the absence of Olympians on their side of the family.

So what prompted that sizable donation?

“My father was a believer that body, mind and spirit all had to come together for someone to perform at their highest potential,” explains Goldring. “The university hadn’t built athletic space since 1987, and we desperately needed new facilities. My father recognized that need from a holistic perspective in terms of the well-being and health of students, faculty and staff.”

These gifts also reflect a central Goldring family value: the importance of giving back to one’s community. Goldring, a lawyer by trade, doesn’t just give back financially—she is also uncommonly generous with her time.

To name a few of her commitments: she served on U of T’s Governing Council for nine years, three of them as chair. She has been a lead fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and was the chair of her daughters’ school, TFS—Canada’s International School. She is presently a co-chair of Vic U’s Defy Gravity campaign.

How does she possibly fit it all in?

“We grew up with that around our household,” laughs Goldring. “Service was not something you were just obligated to do; you wanted to do it. I’ve done some form of volunteering or philanthropic work since I was 15 or 16 years old, when I did ‘friendly visiting’ for the Canadian Red Cross.”

Barbara Goldring, her late mother, was the same way.

“She was a nurse and had five kids, but she always made time for things like the citizenship court, where she would help embrace new immigrants to Canada,” says Judy Goldring. “She was part of as many different charities as you could imagine.”

One of those charities was the University Women’s Club, whose events her mother diligently attended. That’s why Goldring recently established the D. Barbara Goldring Scholarship, awarded annually by the club to a young woman who reflects the values her mother held dear: in particular, an unwavering commitment to higher education and to community.

It’s evident Judy Goldring lives by the same credo.

“I think education allows people to be free in the greatest sense of the word and inspires them to do their utmost,” she says. “Postsecondary education affords you an opportunity to open your mind at such a critical time of your life, and to remain curious throughout your life. That’s what makes us human, and interesting individuals.”

Maintaining and upgrading our century-old buildings is made possible in part by the generous philanthropic support of the Vic alumni community. Support Defy Gravity: The Campaign for Victoria University today.