Leslie Dan

Leslie Lewis Dan, CM OOnt (born November 26, 1929), is a Canadian businessman. The founder of a successful generic drug company and a noted philanthropist, he has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.

Leslie Lewis Dan
Born (1929-11-26) November 26, 1929
Budapest, Hungary
NationalityCanadian
Alma materLeslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
Known forFounder of Novopharm
ChildrenMichael D. Dan, Aubrey Dan, and Andrea Dan-Hytman
AwardsOrder of Canada
Order of Ontario

Early life

Born in Budapest, Dan came to Canada in 1947. As a teenage Jew, he survived the Holocaust by using false identity papers. He came to Canada in 1947 and graduated from the University of Toronto School of Pharmacy in 1954 obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree. He completed his Master of Business Administration degree in 1959. In 1960, he founded a company which distributed over-the-counter drugs.

Business ventures

In 1965, he founded Novopharm. In 2000 when he sold the company to Israel's Teva Pharmaceuticals for an estimated $430 million, it had sales of $750 million and employed 3,000 people. He then started a new company, Viventia (formerly Novopharm Biotech), which specializes in the discovery and development of products for the treatment of cancer. He is currently the chairman.

In December 2008, he had an estimated net worth of $1.02 billion (CAD), making him the 53rd richest person in Canada.[1]

Philanthropy

Dan is well known as a philanthropist. His perspective on helping others is formed out of faith in truths from the Jewish Torah and Talmud. From the latter, Dan has noted writings in the Bava Bathra chapters, including: "Charity is equal in importance to all other commandments combined." And, "Who gives charity in secret is greater than Moses."[2]

His donations include:

  • He donated $15 million to the University of Toronto to fund the Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
  • He founded the Canadian Medicine Aid Programme (CAN-MAP) in 1985. This organization provides life-saving medicines and other aid to the sick in the Third World
  • He has donated to Yad Vashem

Honours
University of Toronto Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building

His honours include:

  • Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences(CSPS) Leadership Award in 2012 [3]
  • The University of Toronto Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, designed by Sir Norman Foster and completed in 2006, is named in his honour.[4]
  • In 1996, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada[5] and awarded the Order of Ontario.
  • He received an honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree from Dalhousie University in 1996 and the University of British Columbia in 1995.
  • In 1997, he received the Distinguished Business Alumnus Award by the University of Toronto Joseph L. Rotman Faculty of Management.
  • Aish HaTorah's Dan Family Building is named in his honour.

Family

He married Judith in 1958. She died in 1995. They had three children, Dr. Michael D. Dan, Aubrey Dan, and Andrea Dan-Hytman. He married Anna in 1996. They share no children. Aubrey Dan is president of Dancap Private Equity and Andrea Dan-Hytman is co-owner of Viventia Biotech Inc.

See also
  • Canadians of Hungarian ancestry

References
  1. Castaldo, Joe; Halas, Sarka; Leung, Calvin; McClearn, Matt (Winter 2008–2009). "The Moneyed Elite". Canadian Business. Toronto, Ontario: Rogers Publishing Limited. 81 (22): 26–41.
  2. As reported on Charity Village 1995. Main Street, Resources & Library. Research Articles.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2013-02-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "U of T Capital Projects: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy". University of Toronto.
  5. Order of Canada citation
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