David F. Sobey
Spring 2016 Honorary Degree Recipient
Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)
As leader for many decades of the Sobey group of businesses, David Frank Sobey has had an enormous influence on the business community, higher education and charitable causes in Atlantic Canada. Born in Stellarton, Nova Scotia in 1931, Mr. Sobey joined the family business almost 70 years ago. He worked his way through the company, eventually becoming chairman and chief executive officer in 1986.
Mr. Sobey is a committed philanthropist and supporter of community projects. Through the private David and Faye Sobey Foundation, he and his wife support arts and culture, education and medical research. The foundation has supported many initiatives at Â鶹´«Ã½, including the Â鶹´«Ã½ Medical Research Foundation, student scholarships, a research fund for undergraduate students in the Faculty of Science and Alzheimer’s research.
Mr. Sobey is past chair of the Board of Directors of the Sobey Foundation and the Frank H. Sobey Fund for Excellence in Business Studies. He continues to sit on these boards and on the board of the Sobey Art Foundation. He holds honorary degrees from Saint Mary’s, Mount Allison, St. Francis Xavier and Cape Breton universities. In 1996, he was appointed a member of the Order of Canada. In 2007, he and his brother Donald became first second-generation inductees into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, joining their father, Frank H. Sobey.
A former chancellor of Saint Mary’s University, Mr. Sobey received the Friend of Education Award, presented by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education, in 1999. He became chairman emeritus of Sobeys Incorporated after retiring from its Board of Directors and that of its parent company, Empire Company Limited, in 2015.