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Western University is recognizing one of Canada’s most distinguished community leaders by conferring an honorary degree during fall convocation.  Mitch Frazer, LLB’99, a respected lawyer, educator and philanthropist, will be celebrated Oct. 21 during the ceremony at Canada Life Place in downtown London, Ont. Frazer, who graduated from Western’s Faculty of Law, will address graduates before they receive their degrees.  

Western honorary degree recipient Mitch Frazer

Frazer has made significant contributions to law and higher education. He is the current chancellor of Ontario Tech University and a managing partner of Mintz LLP. In 2019, he was named one of the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer magazine. His two published books draw on his expertise in Canadian pension law. Frazer co-founded the National Institute on Ageing at Toronto Metropolitan University and is a past chair of that university’s board of governors. He is a former adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and a former chair of the Toronto French School Board of Directors, where he remains a member.  His longstanding philanthropy has supported a range of educational and health-related organizations and causes. He currently serves as chair of the North York General Hospital Board of Governors. An avid runner, Frazer has completed all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors, a prestigious series of the world’s leading marathons: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, Sydney and Cape Town, which will be added in 2027.  Frazer has received numerous awards and honours including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the King Charles III Coronation Medal, the Ontario Bar Association Award of Excellence in Pension and Benefits Law and the CCAE Friend of Education Award. He has also been appointed to the Order of Ontario.  Frazer will receive an honorary doctor of laws at Western’s convocation ceremony on Oct. 21.