Two McMaster graduates, Teresa Cascioli, B. Com ’83, LLD ’19, and Kevin Smith, BA ’86, have been recognized with the Order of Ontario, the province’s highest civilian honour for outstanding achievements.

As part of a ceremony held in November 2022, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, bestowed the honour on a total of 24 new appointees to the Order of Ontario for 2021.

The Order of Ontario recognizes exceptional leaders from all walks of life and diverse fields of endeavour whose impact and lasting legacy have played an important role in building a stronger province, country and world.

Teresa Cascioli

Teresa Cascioli is the former CEO of Hamilton’s Lakeport Brewing and was instrumental in leading the company out of bankruptcy and turning it into an Ontario and global success story in a highly competitive industry. After her tenure with Lakeport Brewing, culminating in Ambev (Labatt) acquiring the company in 2007 for $201 million, she established the Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation aimed at supporting community ventures.

She has written a popular children’s financial literacy book series, M is for Money, and developed a strong reputation for motivational speaking. She has served as strategic advisor and board member to several corporations and took on the role of industry professor at the DeGroote School of Business in 2018. She has been named entrepreneur of the year by many financial and corporate organizations, is one of the top 10 most successful women entrepreneurs in Canada, was inducted into the Sales Hall of Fame by the Canadian Professional Sales Association and was named philanthropist of the year by her community. She is a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient.

Most recently, Cascioli completed an MBA at Oxford University’s Said School of Business.

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is a rare leader who understands the importance of the continuum of care, from basic research to community health, within the framework of a publicly-funded health care system. He has a long and distinguished career and as the current CEO of University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s largest research hospital network, he continues to make a healthier world by transforming lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery and learning.

After graduating from McMaster with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986, Smith earned his Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Sussex in England and completed the Chief Executive Officer program for Healthcare Leadership at the Wharton School of Business. As president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton, and later also CEO of Niagara Health, he coupled the two organizations to collaborate and improve care across the region. As a pioneer in advancing integrated care models, his work has influenced and bettered the health care system at a provincial level. Smith is a professor at the DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster and at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He is a former chair of the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario and has also served as a chair of the Canada Foundation for Innovation.