About the Founders' Award

T. Patrick Boyle served in the Air Force Signals Corps during the Second World War and then went on to complete his business administration studies before embarking on a highly successful business career that spanned more than 25 years in the U.S. and Canada. He served as MacMillan Bloedel’s first worldwide corporate controller before retiring in 1977 to devote his energy to the Fraser Institute. As founding chairman and long-time vice-chairman of the Institute’s Board of Directors, Mr. Boyle played a pivotal role in ensuring that the Institute’s founding principles continue to guide it to this day. After some years of illness, Pat passed away on November 25th 2015 at the age of 97, leaving behind three children and six grandchildren. A memorial service was held for Pat at the Fraser Institute’s Vancouver office on January 14th, 2016.

Michael A. Walker, Ph.D., was the Executive Director of the Fraser Institute from its inception in 1974 until September 2005. As an economist, he has authored or edited 45 books on economic topics. His articles on technical economic subjects have appeared in professional journals in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including the Canadian Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Canadian Tax Journal, Health Management Quarterly, Weltwertschaftliches Archiv, and Health Affairs. His primary concern as the Institute’s founding Executive Director was to promote the examination and use of competitive markets as a method for enhancing the lives of Canadians. He is the co-founder, with Milton and Rose D. Friedman, of the Economic Freedom of the World project, which is now a collaboration of institutes in 91 countries and territories producing the annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The index is one of the most widely cited such measures in current academic literature.