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Gordon B Shrum

Gordon B Shrum (1931 – 2018) was a man of many interests; a student of the arts, a lawyer, and a businessman. After two years in the Faculty of Arts at the University of British of Columbia Gordon took fine arts and studio courses at the University of California at Berkeley, receiving his B.A. in 1952. He then studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr) for a year, before starting work in the graphics department at CBC.

In 1955 Gordon changed direction and enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia where he won several prizes including the Gold Medal as top student in the 1958 graduating class. He started his legal career at an established Vancouver firm, before leaving to form his own practice. The firm became known as Shrum, Liddle & Hebenton, and with high standards and progressive policies it grew until it merged with McCarthy & McCarthy in 1989 to form Canada’s first national law firm.

Soon after the merger Gordon retired from law. He remained busy for the rest of his life focusing on a wide range of interests, including business investments, his love of architecture and design, and philanthropy.

Vistara Elevate Awards

As one small step towards trying to enable greater access to education and opportunity in life, we are grateful to Vistara Capital Partners for establishing the Vistara Elevate Awards, under the Beedie Luminaries Program.

This $100,000, five-year commitment is awarded to students of ethnic and racially diverse backgrounds who are pursuing their degrees in finance and/or STEM – sectors in greater need of diversity and inclusion of members of our black, indigenous, and other underrepresented ethnic communities.

In addition to providing the first-year scholarship funding to one Beedie Luminaries student per year, an equally as exciting and impactful part of the Vistara Elevate Award is Vistara’s commitment to offer, directly or through its network, a paid summer internship to the selected student, following their first year of study.

Further, to help elevate these students to be best prepared for long-term success as they enter the workforce, Vistara will be providing mentorship to the Vistara Elevate Award recipients over their full four-year post-secondary journey.

“Vistara” is the Sanskrit word for “expansion.” With this investment, and drawing on inspiration received from other businesses and leaders that are doing their part, Vistara’s sincere hope is that by helping these bright minds expand their scope of opportunities, they will be able to achieve their full potential. They will become role models to their peers, families, and the community at large, and continue to pay it forward for generations to come.