Honouring Dr. John Evans: Evans Family Donates $10 million to MaRS Discovery District

Toronto (ots/PRNewswire) -

Fund will support the MaRS Solutions Lab - and help prepare young
Canadians for global leadership

MaRS is delighted to announce that it has received a generous
gift of $10 million from the Evans family, honouring the remarkable
contributions of Dr. John Evans, Chair Emeritus of MaRS and one of
its founders.

The Evans family has generously supported MaRS since its
inception. This gift will fund the development of the MaRS Solutions
Lab - a new initiative that will help exceptional, young Canadian
leaders approach complex, 21st-century challenges from an integrated,
multi-disciplinary perspective.

"Today's world needs MaRS more than ever," said Dr. John Evans.
"Much as this project mattered in 2000, it is even more important
today. We face extraordinary challenges and opportunities, and there
is no recipe book for this future. We hope the Lab will equip young
people to develop inspired recipes and go out and change the world."

A renowned healthcare, academic and business leader, as well as
entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr. Evans has passionately advanced
the frontiers of innovation in Canada and abroad, driving change in
health research, education, business, civic engagement and public
policy.

"What has happened over the last 10 years at MaRS far exceeds our
expectations of what could be possible. It is exciting to imagine the
difference MaRS can make in the next decade, and we are delighted to
invest in this future," said Derek Evans, on behalf of the Evans
family.

In 2000, together with several other visionaries, Dr. Evans
developed the concept behind MaRS: a bold idea for a Toronto
convergence hub that would help innovation flourish, bring important
research discoveries to patients and the marketplace, and foster the
growth and success of promising new companies in an intensely
competitive world. These companies, in turn, would build a thriving
knowledge economy, providing high-value jobs for talented young
Canadians right here at home, while their products and services would
improve the quality of life in Canada and beyond.

The MaRS Centre opened in the fall of 2005, and will double in
size in 2013 with the completion of its Phase 2 development. Today,
MaRS anchors a vibrant innovation community, supporting thousands of
young entrepreneurs through education, skills development, market
research, and access to customer, talent and capital networks. In the
past two years alone, MaRS has advised more than 2,000 startups-the
leading cohort of which has raised more than $300 million in
capital-and directly created over 1,500 new Canadian jobs.

The Evans family gift will support the new MaRS Solutions Lab, a
fitting tribute given that the Lab's mission is tied firmly to Dr.
Evans' overarching personal and professional aspiration: improving
the lives of individuals and communities both in Canada and
internationally. And, consistent with John Evans' approach, the Lab's
mission will be fulfilled by encouraging others to stand up and lead
on national and international stages.

In particular, the Lab will focus on expanding the
problem-solving capabilities of young leaders who will work in the
Lab as MaRS Fellows. Selected through an open competitive process,
the MaRS Fellows will benefit from the unique advantages of the MaRS
environment: distinguished mentors; a systems view of the innovation
process; a hands-on approach to collaboration; a focus on execution;
access to leading entrepreneurs and expertise covering a wide range
of disciplines; connections to finance; engagement of policy makers;
and a global network of sister institutions and thought leaders.

Much like a traditional science lab, the MaRS Solutions Lab will
be dedicated to problem-solving in a highly experimental environment,
through repeatable, rigorous protocol. MaRS Fellows will learn and
grow by tackling the tough problems confronting humanity on our hot
and crowded planet.

Their leadership and positive problem-solving skills will be
portable across businesses, academe, social enterprises and
governments. As such, the MaRS Fellows will reflect the inspiration
that John Evans provided to so many during his remarkable career,
across varying sectors in Canada and abroad.

"On behalf of MaRS, I would like to extend our gratitude and
thanks to the Evans family for this incredibly generous gift. Dr.
Evans' impact on MaRS, our community and country is profound, and we
are committed to make the MaRS Solutions Lab a worthy tribute to this
truly remarkable Canadian," said Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO, MaRS
Discovery District.

As part of a ceremony and tribute held yesterday at MaRS
Discovery District, and completely unrelated to the Evans family
gift, the MaRS Board formalized its longstanding decision to
designate the Heritage Building of the MaRS Centre as the Evans Wing,
recognizing Dr. Evans' key role as the inspiration behind MaRS and
embodiment of its values and mission.

The Heritage Building, like John Evans, is the heart of the MaRS
Centre, and has a rich history of innovation. It housed the first
clinical trials of insulin 90 years ago and, by a fitting
coincidence, was also the site where John Evans spent countless hours
as a post-graduate medical trainee over 50 years ago. This
designation not only honours Dr. Evans as a founder and remarkable
leader at MaRS, but also highlights MaRS' mission of taking the best
ideas and most important discoveries and putting them to work to make
the world better, and doing so in a way that brings the best of all
of us to the process - reflecting the unique leadership style of this
great Canadian.

"John Evans is a remarkable individual who has made an
extraordinary contribution to so many areas in Canada and globally,"
said Gord Nixon, President and CEO, RBC, and Chair, MaRS Discovery
District. "He is the founder and driving force behind MaRS, and the
designation of the Evans Wing is a wonderful way for us to
demonstrate our gratitude and admiration."

About Dr. John Evans

Dr. Evans is a Companion of the Order of Canada, member of the
Order of Ontario, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of
Canada, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), Master of
the American College of Physicians and Fellow of the Royal Society of
Canada. He has received countless other honours during his career. He
has been inducted into both the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and the
Canadian Business Hall of Fame. As the founding Dean of McMaster
University's School of Medicine, Dr. Evans was a pioneer of the
much-acclaimed "problem-based" model of medical education. Among his
many other achievements, Dr. Evans served as President of the
University of Toronto, and was also founding Director of the
Population, Health and Nutrition Department of the World Bank in
Washington, DC. As Chair of Allelix Inc., Dr. Evans was associated
with the birth of biotechnology in Canada. He has served as Chairman
of Torstar Corporation, Chairman of Alcan Inc., Chair of the Board of
Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, and many other business and
community boards. Dr. Evans played a catalytic role in many of
Canada's most important innovation pillars, including the Canadian
Foundation for Innovation, the establishment of the Canadian
Institutes for Health Research, Canadian Institute for Advanced
Research, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He was a Founder of MaRS
Discovery District and served as the first Chair of the Board of
Directors for 10 years.

About MaRS

MaRS Discovery District (http://www.marsdd.com) (Twitter:
@MaRSDD) is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto.
MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify
innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada's next
generation of growth companies.

For further information:
Chris Stevenson
Director, Communications
+1(416)-673-8104
cstevenson [cstevenson@marsdd.com ] @marsdd.com [cstevenson@marsdd.com ]

Source: MaRS Discovery District

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