Builders of St. George's School

Mr. Jake Kerr is a Canadian business executive, corporate director, and philanthropist. He currently serves as Chair of Mosaic Forest Management. For 35 years, Jake was Chairman and CEO of Lignum Limited, one of Canada's largest private forest products companies. An active leader in the forestry industry, Jake served as Chair of the Canadian Forest Industries Council and was Chief Negotiator for Canada in the 1996 softwood lumber negotiations with the United States of America.

Over the past 50 years, Jake has served as a corporate director for numerous Canadian businesses, including Rogers, Scotiabank, Bombardier Inc., Timber West, Cominco, and BC Rail.

Jake was the majority owner and managing partner of Vancouver Professional Baseball LLP. In partnership with Jeff Mooney, he acquired the Vancouver Canadians Baseball Club in 2007 and owned the team until it was sold in 2023. In recognition of his contributions to minor league baseball, Jake was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.

Jake is a graduate of UBC (1965) and the University of California at Berkeley (1967). He served as Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art+Design. He has received honorary degrees from Simon Fraser University (2000) and Emily Carr University of Art+Design (2014). In 2015, Emily Carr University of Art+Design honored his legacy of support and leadership by naming the Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies.

An active leader in the community, Jake has served as Chair of the Vancouver Foundation and St. George’s School. He has been an active volunteer in community organizations including St. Paul’s Hospital, BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver General Hospital, Simon Fraser University, BCIT, and the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation. To acknowledge his contributions to Canadian business and the community, Jake was awarded the Order of Canada in 2002 and the Order of British Columbia in 1997.

Prior to his time at St. George’s School, Dr. Tom Matthews served in a variety of roles at three other independent schools — Upper Canada College (UCC), St. Michaels University School, and Hillfield Strathallan College. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Professor in the History Department at McMaster University where he received the Teaching Award for the Faculty of Humanities. Over the years, he has volunteered on a number of boards, ranging from Nepal School Projects and the International Boys’ Schools Coalition through to the Royal BC Museum and the Hamilton Art Gallery. Currently, Tom is serving on the Board of Crofton House School while volunteering for the Nature Trust of British Columbia.

Having begun his independent school teaching career at UCC, Tom was excited in 2010 to return to a boys’ school and work with the St. George’s community in developing and implementing an ambitious Strategic Plan focusing on the primacy of boy-centred teaching and learning.  Concurrently, he led the process through which new Mission and Values statements were adopted, along with the Core Values — Empathy, Humility, Integrity, Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. The subsequent development of Campus Master Plans for both the Junior and Senior Schools led to the transformational renovation of the Junior School through the creation of innovative grade-based neighbourhoods. As well, the implementation of the first phase of the Senior School’s Campus Master Plan created a new heart for the Senior School consisting of two academic buildings and an assembly/dining hall gathered around an academic quad. Tom’s vision of the new facilities on both campuses is that they will facilitate the implementation of boy-centred instructional practices, promoting active engagement and placing students and their learning needs at the centre of the educational process. As Head of School, Tom was keen to forge a variety of partnerships, the most significant of which has been with the Musqueam community.

In all of these endeavours, Tom’s wife, Sheena, actively supported him, while also serving at St. George’s as an English teacher and university counsellor. Tom also credits the Society and Foundation Boards for much of the progress made during his time at St. George’s School  as well as the Leadership Team, the St. George’s Parents’ and OBA Alumni Associations, the faculty and staff, the student body, and the parent and alumni communities. His fondest memories of St. George’s School are of visiting classes, enjoying plays, concerts and poetry recitations, and cheering the boys on from the sidelines at various sporting events. In his estimation, the key to the School’s success is the boys and their extraordinary desire to do their best and to make their parents and teachers proud of them. What more could anyone ask for?     

Without a doubt, Mr. Ken Teskey holds one of the longest continuous service records for volunteer leadership at St. George’s School. It was only in 2015 that he stepped down from his Board role, the same year that he was also honoured by the Old Boys’ Association Board as an Honourary Georgian. We estimate that Ken has served with as many as nine Board Chairs, and he has served in a wide variety of ways on multiple committees, including Human Resources, Advancement, Endowment, and New Parents; he was also actively involved in the Rowing parents group and the building of the JS Lecky Boathouse in conjunction with UBC. He is the CRO and Corporate Secretary with MCAP, a leading Canadian mortgage finance business.

Ken and Cindy actively supported their boys in their many athletic endeavours at the School, and both were engaged in the life of the School in general. They have supported all successive fundraising campaigns at St. George’s, most recently the ONE+ Campaign to build new facilities for future generations of students. He is also a major supporter of the Hamper Drive every year, which, through the efforts of the St. George’s community, brings much-needed holiday supplies to over 300 families in need.

We honour “SK” Leung as a Builder of St. George’s for his more than 15 years of commitment to the success of our School. Mr. Leung is a very successful businessman based in Shenzhen, China and who is an “Honourary Citizen” of that city. SK’s business interests include finance, real estate, telecommunications, electronics, and technology, as well as duty free stores in China. Mr. Leung is also a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Guangdong Province, China.

During the past 15 years, Mr. Leung has shown great support and leadership to two Headmasters and at least four Board Chairs; his generous and kind support for the School’s many trips to Asia to connect with families and alumni has been invaluable. Since 2012, Mr. Leung has served as a member of the Headmaster’s Advisory Council, guiding our strategies for recruitment and support for the School. 

Of particular note in recent years has been his very passionate and continued engagement as a “Georgian Parent”. Despite his son having graduated from Saints in 2014, Mr. Leung and his wife, Rainbow Wong continue to be highly engaged with the School, guiding new families, encouraging the support of other Georgian parents and alumni, and even supporting the current Parents Association by twice funding the car for the Annual School Fair Raffle!

We honour Jimmy Chee as a Builder of St. George’s School for his more than 25 years of commitment to our community. He served as a Director of the School during a time of major fundraising and was involved in a volunteer leadership role with the campaigns to support new facilities at the School in the 1980s. He and his wife Janet are proud parents of two Saints’ graduates, Oliver and Cyrus. Their nephews Jeffrey, Christopher, Matthew, and Nicholas have also graduated from Saints. They also have one daughter, Sonia, who serves as the President of the Jimmy Chee Foundation.

Jimmy’s outstanding history of giving and commitment is deeply ingrained. A close friend and another Georgian parent recently described him as ‘no ordinary Board Member.’ His efforts to spearhead fundraising helped ensure that the School had the resources to meet the requirements of earthquake remediation, which was an urgent need after the purchase of the convent. He served as Chair of the Advancement Committee between 1992 and 1995 and generously donated towards the new Science Wing at the Senior School during an early fundraising campaign in 1984. Mr. Chee was also a member of the Headmaster’s Advisory Council, served on the Search Committee that recommended the appointment of Headmaster Nigel Toy in 1996, and presided as Chair of the School’s first New Parents Dinner. Jimmy was an early advocate of building a dedicated residence for the Headmaster on campus, because he believed that providing housing for future Headmasters would enable the School to recruit the best candidates from around the world. This is a practice that has been widely adopted at many of the top independent boarding schools in the country.

Mr. Chee continues to maintain his close ties to the School and its extended community. He serves as an Elder at Lord’s Peace Chapel and is the Founder of the Jimmy Chee Foundation, which supports worthy causes in the fields of education, medicine, and religion. Jimmy and his family are committed to service and are very generous with their time, talent, and treasure in giving back.

Mr. Rob Cruickshank has been a highly active part of the story of St. George’s School since his first son, Jeffrey, joined us in 1988. His visionary, strong, and dedicated volunteer leadership has helped to drive many changes at this School, the benefits of which continue to be felt by students, staff and faculty, parents, and alumni alike. Rob has volunteered at the School under six Headmasters (Brown, Parry, Atkinson, Lawrence, Toy & Matthews), was a member of the Search Committee that recommended Dr. Matthews to be our Headmaster. He helped imagine and formalize our Strategic Plan 2011–21, which set the stage for our Campus Master Planning process as well as the ensuing $40 million ONE+ Campaign.

During his time as a Trustee or Member of the Board of Directors, Rob served on a wide variety of committees, including Pensions & Benefits, Bursary & Scholarships, Strategic Planning, Advancement, Finance, and, most significantly, served five years as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Cruickshank was made an Honourary Georgian by the Old Boys’ Association in 2013 and has gone on to serve as Chair of the Board of Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS).

Rob has always had a keen understanding of the need for philanthropic support and volunteer leadership for a world-class school such as ours, and has modelled this through the giving of his own extraordinary talent, time, and personal philanthropy. In more than 26 years of giving back, Rob and his family have supported a very wide variety of funds and campaigns, including Endowment, Scholarship, Capital, Annual, and Memorial.

Mr. Ronald Laird Cliff receives the Builder of St. George’s School Award for his astonishing 80 years of connection to the School, from young boy to successful businessman and major supporter of our community. Ron has served the broader community of Vancouver and British Columbia as a major philanthropist and volunteer leader for more than 60 consecutive years and has been honoured by numerous local non-profit organizations for his long-standing and generous service. We are honoured to do the same in recognition of his deep commitment to the education of fine young men at our School. The Builder’s Award is preceded by the “Georgian Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2012. Ron is also one of our leading Georgian philanthropists.

The list of wider community organizations that Mr. Cliff has supported over the decades includes many other fine schools, leading arts organizations, hospitals, and the Vancouver Police Foundation, of which he was a Founder. He was named the Simon Fraser University Distinguished Community Leader of the Year in 2014.

Ron has been a donor to St. George’s School for almost 40 years, supporting many capital campaigns, including our current ONE+ Campaign. Other projects he has supported include the Academic Endowment Fund, the Performing Arts Fund, the John Harker Memorial Fund, the Malcolm Campbell Memorial Fund, the Headmaster’s Assistance Fund, and the Old Boys’ Scholarship & Bursary Fund. Like our other award recipients, Ron truly embodies the intention behind the Builders’ Award of recognizing individuals who have made extraordinary, transformational contributions to St. George’s School over time.

Alumnus; Parent of Alumni (Patrick ’00 and Andrew ’02); Faculty member (1968-2007)

During his time as a student, Geof was noted for his athletic prowess and
love of the outdoors. After joining the faculty, he shared those interests with his students and was fundamental in the growth of the Scouts, Rovers, Venturers, and other service programs. He was a strong supporter of the Duke of Edinburgh Program, growing it to be the largest in Canada. He is also the Founder of the School’s Annual Hamper Drive. For many St. George’s boys, Geof was and is the iconic teacher — always willing to lend an ear and always ready for fun! Mr. Stancombe retired in 2008.

Alumnus; Parent of a Alumnus (Tristan ‘03); Former Board Chair (2003-2008); Foundation Trustee (2005-2007); Member of the Headmaster’s Advisory
Council, and Major Contributor to St. George’s School for 30 years. 

Mr. Armstrong is known in Canada as an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and the founder and Chairman of the largest, privately-owned passenger rail service in North America. The Rocky Mountaineer has received multiple World Travel Awards and is now considered to be one of Canada’s leading tourism providers. Peter sits on the Boards of many organizations in the tourism industry, as well as educational institutions, private and public companies, and charities. His leadership and financial support of St. George’s School spans more than three decades, and he is a man known to all as kind, considerate, passionate, and always willing to assist when asked.