Thomas Jay Cooper awarded the St. Mark’s College Doctor of Sacred Letters

St. Mark’s College at the University of British Columbia is pleased to announce that Dr. Thomas “Tom” Jay Cooper — a distinguished community builder who has been a champion of interfaith and innumerable charitable organizations — will be the recipient of the institution’s highest honour, the degree Doctor of Sacred Letters, honoris causa.

The degree will be conferred by the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Vancouver and Chancellor of Corpus Christi College and St. Mark’s College, at the school’s 2026 Convocation on May 9, 2026.

Dr. Cooper has been a longtime supporter of the Colleges and previously served on the Board of Directors of Corpus Christi and St. Mark’s College. He has served for over 30 years as the President and Founder of City in Focus, a not-for-profit organization that exists to serve the spiritual and social needs of Vancouver. He has spear-headed this chaplaincy by caring for the soul of the city though dynamic connections with business, political and faith communities of Vancouver.  Most notably, City in Focus organizes an annual prayer breakfast attended by 1,000 people from across the province. He also serves on a number of organizational boards in the Vancouver area, and has been voted on to Vancouver Magazine’s top 50 most powerful people in BC.

He holds a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and was a Minister of Religion ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Canada. He is currently a member of the St. Mark’s Parish at UBC.

Together with Frank Giustra, he co-founded the Streetohome initiative, which has built over 1000 homes for low income and homeless people. Tom has also chaired the More Than Gold Program, which involved over 1100 churches and 100 Christian organizations in hosting the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. He continues to engage philanthropists in donating to local causes, including both Catholic and Protestant faith-based organizations. Through this philanthropic work, Tom has mobilized millions of dollars to the benefit of the poor and marginalized in our community. 

The Benemerenti medal was conferred upon him by Archbishop J. Michael Miller in September 2024 at the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, alongside other recipients of papal honours. This award recognized his work in ecumenism and his efforts to bring a Catholic voice into civic and political life. 

As Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President and Principal of the Colleges noted, “It is difficult to think of an individual who is more passionate about connecting people to create transformative change in our community. He is a visionary leader and a true connector, and we are honoured to recognize his service to the colleges and to the community more widely.”