{{short description|Chancellor of Ryerson University}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = G. Raymond Chang | honorific_suffix = [[Order of Canada|OC]], [[Order of Jamaica|OJ]] | order = 3rd | office = Chancellor of Ryerson University | term_start = 2006 | term_end = 2012 | president = [[Sheldon Levy]] | predecessor = [[John Craig Eaton II]] | successor = Lawrence Bloomberg | alma_mater = [[University of Toronto]] | education = [[St. George's College, Jamaica]] | spouse = Donette Chin-Loy | children = 2 | birth_date = {{birth date|1948|11|23}} | birth_place = [[Kingston, Jamaica]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|7|27|1948|11|23}} | death_place = [[Toronto, Ontario, Canada]] | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh|郑佰勋}}}} | native_name_lang = zh-CN }}

'''G. Raymond Chang''', [[Order of Canada|OC]], [[Order of Jamaica|OJ]] ({{Lang-zh|s=郑佰勋}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=华裔慈善家郑佰勋获加拿大勋章 系唯一授勋华人-中新网 |url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/hr/2014/07-02/6341865.shtml |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=[[China News Service]]}}</ref> November 23, 1948 – July 27, 2014), was a Jamaican-born Canadian businessman, philanthropist and from 2006 until 2012, the third chancellor of [[Ryerson University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ryerson.ca/news/media/General_Public/201120615_MR_ChangConvocation.html |title=General_Public - News & Events - Ryerson University |publisher=Ryerson.ca |date=2012-06-15 |accessdate=2014-07-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019073417/http://www.ryerson.ca/news/media/General_Public/201120615_MR_ChangConvocation.html |archivedate=2014-10-19 }}</ref>

==Early life== He was of [[Hakka people|Hakka Chinese]] descent, born the fifth of 12 children to Gladstone Vernon and Maisie Chang in [[Kingston, Jamaica]].<ref name=obit>{{cite news|title=Philanthropist Raymond Chang's death casts "pall over everything": James |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/08/09/philanthropist_raymond_changs_death_casts_pall_over_everything_james.html |accessdate=August 9, 2014|work=Toronto Star|date=August 9, 2014}}</ref><ref name=gleaner>{{cite web|url=http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111016/lead/lead8.html |title='I am honoured and humbled' - Lead Stories - Jamaica Gleaner - Sunday &#124; October 16, 2011 |publisher=Jamaica Gleaner |date=2011-10-16 |accessdate=2014-07-28}}</ref><ref name=star>{{cite news|title=Raymond Chang: The covert philanthropist|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2011/01/07/raymond_chang_the_covert_philanthropist.html|accessdate=July 27, 2014|work=Toronto Star|date=January 7, 2011}}</ref> His father was a second generation [[Chinese Jamaicans|Chinese Jamaican]] born to Chinese immigrants while his mother was born in Guyana, also of [[Chinese Guyanese]] descent.<ref name=gleaner/>

Upon the death of Maisie's brother, Chang's parents adopted five of their then-orphaned nieces and nephew. This newly blended and inter-related family now comprised 12 children and was raised together with Chang's other cousins on two back-to-back streets on which were constructed five houses, each built for an individual "Chang" family. In total, 35 cousins lived side-by-side "around-the-block" of five houses.<ref name="obit" />

Gladstone and Maisie, along with Gladstone's brothers and sisters, owned a successful bakery and several, other businesses on the island. From an early age, Gladstone and Maisie Chang insisted that all 12 children pursue a university education;<ref name="obit" /> after he was educated as [[St. George's College, Jamaica]].<ref>{{cite news |author= |url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20151127/st-georges-college-dedicates-roadway-great-past-students |title=St George's College Dedicates Roadway to Great Past Students |work=The Jamaica Gleaner |location=West Indies |date=25 November 2015 |access-date=26 June 2021 }}</ref>

==Education== Chang emigrated in 1967 first to [[Troy, New York|Troy]] in the [[United States]] (briefly at [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]]) and then to Toronto both times to attend university.<ref name=obit/> He earned an engineering degree from the [[University of Toronto]] and went on to earn his qualifications as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst and largely pursued a career in finance.

==Career== He worked for [[Coopers & Lybrand]] for a time, and until 1983, when he and some partners bought into a small Toronto mutual fund management company that managed $5 million in assets. This predecessor company would grow and develop into [[CI Financial]], which in 2014 managed $100 billion of investments.<ref name=obit/> Chang started at CI Financial as vice-president and chief operating officer, and was promoted to COO and president in 1996, becoming president and CEO in 1998, and then chairman and CEO from 1999 to 2010. At that time, the Company had become the second largest publicly traded mutual fund company in Canada.<ref name=obit/><ref name=star/><ref name=pride>{{cite web|url=http://pridenews.ca/2014/07/02/order-of-canada-bestowed-upon-jamaican-national-g-raymond-chang/ |title=Order Of Canada Bestowed Upon Jamaican National, G. Raymond Chang &#124; Pride News Magazine |publisher=Pridenews.ca |date= 2 July 2014|accessdate=2014-07-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/06/30/rick_mercer_and_chris_hadfield_among_order_of_canada_recipients.html |title=Rick Mercer and Chris Hadfield among Order of Canada recipients &#124; Toronto Star |work=Thestar.com |date=2014-06-30 |accessdate=2014-07-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ryerson.ca/about/chancellor/index.html|title=Chancellor|work=Ryerson University|accessdate=30 October 2011|archive-date=20 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020002720/http://www.ryerson.ca/about/chancellor/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Chang also owned an investment holding company, G. Raymond Chang Ltd., and founded software firm Mercatus Technologies Inc.<ref name=pride/> Chang was also a shareholder and board member of various other Canadian and Jamaican companies.

==Awards, decorations and philanthropy== [[File:G. Raymond Chang Wing at 150 Kilgour Road (photo by Djuradj Vujcic).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The G. Raymond Chang Wing at the [[Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital]] in Toronto]]

He was appointed to the [[Order of Jamaica]] in 2011 and as an officer of the [[Order of Canada]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15694&lan=eng|title=Order of Canada Appointments|date=June 30, 2014|accessdate=July 1, 2014}}</ref><ref name=death>{{cite news|title=Jamaican philanthropist Raymond Chang is dead|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Jamaican-philanthropist-Raymond-Chang-is-dead|accessdate=July 27, 2014|work=Jamaican Observer|date=July 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729015519/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Jamaican-philanthropist-Raymond-Chang-is-dead|archive-date=July 29, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ryerson University's [[Chang School of Continuing Education]] is named after him as benefactor.<ref name=obit/> Chang also donated tens of millions of dollars<ref name=star/> to various institutions including Ryerson University, the [[Royal Ontario Museum]], the [[Centre for Addiction and Mental Health]] and the [[University of the West Indies]]. He was a board member of the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, endowed The Gladstone and Maisie Chang Chair at the [[University of Toronto]] in internal medicine, and started a fellowship for West Indian doctors at the [[University Health Network]].<ref name=obit/> In 2010, he was named Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year by the Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.<ref name=star/>

==Death== Chang, who suffered from [[leukemia]], died at the age of 65, several months after undergoing a [[bone marrow transplant]].<ref name=obit2>{{cite news|title=Toronto philanthropist and former Ryerson University Chancellor passes away|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/07/27/toronto_philanthropist_and_former_ryerson_university_chancellor_passes_away.html|accessdate=July 28, 2014|date=July 27, 2014}}</ref> His funeral mass occurred on August 9, 2014 at [[St. Patrick's Church (Toronto)|St. Patrick’s Catholic Church]] in Toronto and was presided over, amongst others, by Rev. Fr. Luc Amoussou, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica|Archbishop of Kingston]] [[Charles Dufour]], followed by a reception hosted by Ryerson University at their [[Mattamy Athletic Centre]]. He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Thornhill, Ontario.<ref name=obit/> His widow Donette Chin-Loy was named Chancellor designate of [[Toronto Metropolitan University]] in June 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.torontomu.ca/news-events/news/2024/06/tmu-names-donette-chin-loy-chang-as-new-chancellor/ | title=Toronto Metropolitan University names Donette Chin-Loy Chang as new chancellor }}</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, G. Raymond}} [[Category:1948 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:Chancellors of Toronto Metropolitan University]] [[Category:Jamaican people of Chinese descent]] [[Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent]] [[Category:Canadian chief executives]] [[Category:Canadian chairpersons of corporations]] [[Category:Canadian corporate directors]] [[Category:Chief executives in the finance industry]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]] [[Category:Members of the Order of Jamaica]] [[Category:University of Toronto alumni]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Toronto]] [[Category:Canadian investors]] [[Category:Jamaican emigrants to Canada]] [[Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Kingston, Jamaica]] [[Category:21st-century Jamaican businesspeople]] [[Category:Deaths from leukemia in Canada]] [[Category:CFA charterholders]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian philanthropists]] [[Category:Hakka people]] [[Category:People educated at St. George's College, Jamaica]] [[Category:Jamaican philanthropists]]