Early Life and Private Career
Gerrard was born in Birmingham, England, and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Saskatchewan (1967), a Doctor of Medicine degree from McGill University (1971), a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1976), and a Certificate in Pediatrics from the American Academy of Pediatrics (1976). He worked at several prominent American institutions in the 1970s, and returned to Canada in 1980 to accept a position as pediatrician at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital. Gerrard served as head of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at this hospital from 1985 to 1992, and taught at the University of Manitoba from 1980 to 1993. He has authored or co-authored over 200 scientific publications, and became known during the 1980s as an expert on the research and treatment of children's cancer. Gerrard has also been interested in bald eagles since his teenaged years, and co-authored a book entitled The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits of a Wilderness Monarch in 1988.
Gerrard became active with the Liberal Party of Canada while working on his undergraduate degree, impressed with Prime Minister Lester Pearson's positions on social and international issues. He was a delegate to the Liberal Party's 1968 leadership convention, supporting John Turner. He later volunteered for the "Non" side in the 1980 Quebec Referendum, and became Liberal riding president for Lisgar in 1984. In 1990, he was Manitoba co-chair of Jean Chrétien's successful bid for the Liberal Party leadership.
Read more about this topic: Jon Gerrard
Famous quotes containing the words early life, early, life, private and/or career:
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)
“If there is a price to pay for the privilege of spending the early years of child rearing in the driver’s seat, it is our reluctance, our inability, to tolerate being demoted to the backseat. Spurred by our success in programming our children during the preschool years, we may find it difficult to forgo in later states the level of control that once afforded us so much satisfaction.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“It is the responsibility of every adult—especially parents, educators and religious leaders—to make sure that children hear what we have learned from the lessons of life and to hear over and over that we love them and they are not alone.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)
“There is no private life which has not been determined by a wider public life.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)