Sandy-Kitchen Brewer and Earl Brewer

Sandra (Sandy) Kitchen-Brewer and Earl Brewer will each receive an honorary doctorate of letters at The University of New Brunswick Fredericton campus’s 195th Encaenia Ceremony on Thursday, May 16.

Sandy and Earl are social activists, philanthropists, and community supporters who are dedicated to improving the lives of their neighbours and fellow New Brunswickers. Their activism and quiet generosity have had significant impacts across the province on education, food security, the arts, health, and social innovation. Both graduates of UNB, Earl obtained a bachelor of arts in 1970 And a bachelor of law in 1974, and Sandy gained a bachelor of arts in 1994 followed by a master of arts in 2008.

Earl is both a businessman and patron of the arts. An award-winning real estate developer, he is known for his considerate and sympathetic approach to new construction and historic conservation. Examples of his developments and co-developments include the historic Post on Queen, Barker House, Phoenix Square, the Waverley, Westpoint by the River, and the Promenade on Queen. His buildings have helped shape Fredericton’s downtown core, maintaining its past while revitalizing its future. Earl co-launched Plaza Corp in early 2000, which quickly became one of Canada’s leading property owners, developer and managers of retail real estate. Plaza has 125 employees and 271 properties, 8.8 million square feet across the country. His passion for real estate is matched only by his devotion to philanthropy. Earl has quietly supported community initiatives and social programs his entire life, his under-the-radar backing providing the lifeblood for worthwhile causes that might otherwise fail. He has dedicated his time and expertise to the boards of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, UNB Board of Governors, Vestcor, the newly established Advisory Council for the Faculty of Law, to name a few. He is also the past Consul to Sweden for New Brunswick.

Sandy is the manager of the Brewer Foundation and a former research associate at the National Research Council of Canada. She is invested in healthcare, women’s specific health and well-being, education, and student food insecurity. She is the co-author of papers on community intermediaries, those who serve as links between government agencies and citizens seeking support. She is co-chair of Women4Women Fredericton, Inc., an initiative working to establish a women’s health centre in Fredericton and she serves on the board of the Lahey Clinic Canadian Foundation, which helps create unique training opportunities for physicians and nurses, and cross-border collaborations.

Together Earl and Sandy have strived to help in areas of education, health and the arts. In 2006, they began the Studio Watch Emerging Artist award program with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery as a way to increase the exposure of young, upcoming artists in New Brunswick giving them an opportunity to be celebrated, to excel in their field, and to advance to the next step in their career. The Emerging Artist Award is in its 18th year.

In 2009, Earl and Sandy established the Brewer Foundation. Initially their interest was to provide educational scholarships to students, especially those with good academic achievement and a great deal of fortitude. In 2016 they became focused on the local student food insecurity program. Since then, they have invested heavily to establish or help existing student hunger programs in over 80 schools across the province.

The Brewers continue to follow the need and help with various causes primarily in the fields of healthcare, health and wellbeing, simulation training, the arts, and education, either monetarily or with their skills and expertise. Earl, with Sandy’s whole-hearted support, is deeply committed to UNB’s faculty of law, recently donating $1 million to establish the Brewer Scholarship, which will be second only to the value of the prestigious Beaverbrook Scholarship. Earl and Sandy have also donated to the renovation of the law school student lounge.