Breen, Joseph Melville

BASc, PEng 
2T1 Civil 
Inducted: 1979 

Joseph Melville Breen distinguished himself in business and athletics. Graduating after military service in the Great War, he began his career with Canada Cement in 1922. He rose to become President, and later Chairman, until he retired in 1968.

Breen served as director of many large Canadian Corporations and he was the first Canadian Chairman of the Portland Cement Association.

He left his mark on the sports world. He was the Captain of the University of Toronto football team, which won the Grey Cup in 1920, and he also played with the Toronto Argonauts. He later coached the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and later served as a referee in the Big Four Football League.

Achievements

  • Outstanding business leader
  • First player to be nominated to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1962
  • An all-round athlete, he also starred in baseball, track and field
  • World War I Royal Canadian Engineers