J.W. Nevil Thomas

BCom 1961 TRIN

Through generous support to enhance spaces and student awards at Trinity College, Nevil Thomas helped create a dynamic community that supports a rich undergraduate experience at the University of Toronto.

J.W. Nevil Thomas (1938-2021) has a long history of pairing academic study with hands-on business experience. He worked throughout high school and university, where he earned a bachelor of commerce from Trinity College in the University of Toronto, then a master’s in economics at Queen’s University and an MBA at York University. After stints in corporate finance at Dominion Securities and Midland Doherty, he co-founded the financial and management advisory firm Bedford Capital Corporation (now BCC Advisors Inc.) with the late Richard Mauran and the late J. Murray Armitage (BA 1962 VIC) and launched a long and successful career as a private equity investor and public company director. Among the many firms he led were Nevcorp, Elizabeth Arden Inc., Reliable Life Insurance Company and Templeton Growth Funds Ltd.

Thomas was a generous philanthropist known for his contributions to hospitals in the University Health Network system (UHN). He founded the Nevil Thomas Adult Congenital Heart Library at UHN’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. In honour of his late wife Susanne, Thomas and their children Rebecca, Jeremy, Julian and Ryan, funded a holistic patient care and cutting-edge research program in head and neck cancer at UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Thomas gave to his alma mater for four decades, supporting students and capital projects at Trinity College. The generous Nevil Thomas Award, established in 2007, rewards a graduating student who plans a business career and has enrolled in an MBA program at the university. In 2021, shortly before he passed away, Thomas gave $5 million towards the centrepiece of the Living Trinity campaign, the spectacular Lawson Centre for Sustainability building on the north side of the Trinity campus. The southern portion is named the Nevil Thomas Wing.

This sustainable building includes classroom, community and residential space, ensuring students will live and learn in a close-knit, accessible and welcoming community. As Thomas often noted, the sense of belonging created in such an atmosphere forges lifetime friendships and the unparalleled experience of meeting and engaging with a wide range of people.

Nevil Thomas’s ideal of academic study grounded in practical experience and strong community found deep expression in Trinity’s most ambitious capital project in a century. His support continues to anchor students in a profound sense of place and belonging, a firm foundation for future leadership.