UTM remembers namesake and benefactor of Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre

The University of Toronto Mississauga community is remembering Robert Gillespie, a friend and supporter who recognized the importance of preparing students for success in their professional and personal lives.

Gillespie passed away peacefully at his Mississauga home on June 8, one day shy of his 93rd birthday.

UTM’s Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre was named in recognition of Gillespie’s support for UTM.  Assisting students in identifying and developing the academic skills they need to thrive, the centre’s namesake benefactor would have liked to access similar services when he was a university student in Edinburgh. 

“I had a rather ragged academic background,” Gillespie said. “I attended an engineering co-op program at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, so I was working as an apprentice and going to night school and sometimes day school. I found it tough sledding, partly because of a lack of mentoring, but also because I was isolated from other students. Studying mathematics on my own was not an easy process, and it wasn’t much fun.”

Gillespie, a professional engineer and the retired chief executive officer of General Electric Canada, said a facility like the academic skills centre “would have been a help to me as a student. I was not a good student. I felt too much emphasis was placed on learning by rote and not enough on reaching conclusions based on deduction, experience and collaborating with others.”

Gillespie immigrated to Canada in the 1950s. He took a job as an engineer with General Electric and remained there for his entire career, taking on increasingly larger challenges. He and his wife, Irene, initially lived in Toronto, but as their family grew, they moved to Mississauga. 

As GE’s executive vice-president at the time, Gillespie led the initiative to consolidate the company’s offices in the Greater Toronto Area, and, after a careful review, GE located its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, beginning the flow of major corporations to the area.

As Mississauga grew, Gillespie said he became increasingly aware of UTM’s importance to the city. When GE wanted to make a donation to a favourite cause upon his retirement, Gillespie specified the university, and the Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre was born, also aided by a personal donation from him and Irene. They continued to support the centre annually.

“I found out that U of T Mississauga was looking to establish an academic skills centre that would give students the opportunity to work closely with faculty – and with other students – to bootstrap themselves into a better position, but that it needed funding. I decided to work with them, and it’s been a great success,” Gillespie said.

For years now, the centre has delivered top-notch programming to help students enhance their academic skills and succeed in both their studies and in their professional lives after graduation. Thanks to Gillespie’s continued support, the centre introduced additional programming, including Promoting Academic Skills for Success, designed to detect and assist students at risk of academic probation and help them improve their study skills, and Preparation to Launch, a program to help upper year undergraduate students prepare for the next stage of their journey.

Gillespie has held many notable positions in the national business and arts community including past director of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, governor and chair of Credit Valley Hospital, director of Husky IMS, president and chairman of the Board of the Toronto Symphony and honorary governor of the Royal Ontario Museum. 

He was inducted into Mississauga’s Legends Row in 2015 for contributions to business, innovation and science. In 2006, Gillespie received U of T’s Arbor Award, and in 2017, he received UTM’s Paul W. Fox Award, both of which recognized his distinguished voluntary service to the university.