Board member establishes scholarship for first-generation LGBTQ+ students

Growing up in Winnipeg with immigrant parents who were both physicians, Samir Sinha was taught that he could be whatever he wanted to be. He also learned from his parents that the best gateway to a successful life is a quality education.

Like a good son should, he heeded his parents, all the way to a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University and earning five degrees — including a medical degree in gerontology and a doctorate in sociology — along the way. Today, among many other roles, Dr. Sinha is the director of geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network, director of Health Policy Research on Ryerson’s National Institute on Ageing, and a member of Ryerson’s Board of Governors.

“Being on the board is one of the most exciting roles I’ve ever had,” says Dr. Sinha. “I feel like I’m playing a role in giving thousands of people the opportunity to lead the country, build our economy, and so many other exciting things.”

As a great believer in making education accessible, Dr. Sinha recently made a $50,000 commitment to establish the Ryerson PRIDE Scholarship Fund that will assist exceptional first-generation undergraduates who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, or queer (LGBTQ+). This gift has also been matched by the President’s Awards to Champion Excellence (PACE), doubling its impact to $100,000 in student financial assistance.

Making this gift to Ryerson is intensely personal for Dr. Sinha, who came out to his parents when he was in medical school. “I was fortunate to have a supportive family. If you don’t have that, you may lose the ability to pursue higher education,” he says.

Having seen people who’d come out to their parents with disastrous results, he noted how vulnerable he felt at times in his youth wondering what his experience would be like. There is not a lot of support for LGBTQ+ students who have merit but not the financial resources, he explains, and the registrar’s office noted this remains a population in need of support. “I really want to continue to support Ryerson’s work to champion equity and diversity and make a university education affordable and accessible,” he says.

As a high school student, Sinha worked extremely hard. He saved up enough money on his own to pay for his university studies and earned merit-based scholarships as well to attend Queen’s and then Western University, before receiving a prestigious Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University. After obtaining a Masters degree and a Doctorate there, he was recruited to Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. to complete his training in geriatric medicine.

Sinha says that his mentor at Oxford often impressed upon him that “with great privilege comes extraordinary responsibility,” and he considers this lead gift to the PRIDE Fund an example of putting those values to work.

He hopes this scholarship fund helps vulnerable students access post-secondary education and reach their goals. He also hopes it will encourage others to contribute.

“For many people who came to Ryerson, just to get here they had to overcome a great deal of obstacles,” he says. “We forget how many people do not have the resources to access a university education.”

Thanks to Dr. Sinha and the PRIDE scholarship fund, many LGBTQ+ students will now be able to get the support they need.

To contribute the Ryerson PRIDE Scholarship, please visit the fund’s online giving page.