The Mario and Dorothy Pesando Scholarship was established through the Boundless Promise Program, to honour the Donor’s parents Mario and Dorothy Pesando. Mario Pesando, Class of 1942, the son of Italian immigrants, was proud to have had the opportunity to study engineering at the University of Toronto. Although most well known as the chief flight test engineer for the Avro Arrow, he was equally proud of his work on the Avro Jetliner and, while temporarily residing in the United States, the Saturn rocket system. Throughout his career in aeronautical engineering, Mario was supported by his wife Dorothy, known for her remarkable memory and love of reading, and the devoted mother of their four children.
Donors: James Pesando and Patricia Higgins
About the Boundless Promise Program
U of T’s dedication to accessible excellence sets us apart from our peer public universities in the United States and elsewhere around the world. We attract the best Canadian and international students, regardless of means, for our distinguished research programs and innovative teaching and prepare them for leadership in an increasingly complex and borderless world. We have a proud legacy of nurturing future leaders across a broad spectrum of fields who improve lives and communities in Canada and internationally. And we do this on a fraction of the funding received by our peers: Ontario receives the lowest per-student funding of all Canadian provinces and U of T operates on less than half of the per-student funding available to US peer public universities.
U of T is committed to access as well as excellence. About 57 per cent of our first year students receiving OSAP report a total family income of less than $50,000 per annum. As Canada’s leading public university, we have pledged that no qualified undergraduate will have to decline admission or withdraw from studies due to financial circumstances. Our donors have made this remarkable commitment possible.