Ricky Kanee Schachter

Who was Ricky Kanee Schachter?

Ricky Kanee Schachter, BA, MD, FRCP, LLD, CM was a renowned dermatologist who practiced in the Toronto area, and was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998, as "a researcher, teacher, administrator and healer, whose work in the areas of skin cancer and psoriasis has improved the lives of her patients, and inspired fellow researchers across Canada."

Her husband, Dr. Benjamin Schachter, was a Torontonian biochemist, working at the University of Toronto, who, from 1934–39, conducted research on female sex hormones. He isolated and identified conjugated oestrone sulphate. Her late brother, Sol Kanee, also received the Order of Canada for his work with the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Jewish Congress.

Dr. Schachter grew up in Melville, Saskatchewan, at a time when women were not generally accepted as professionals in Canada. When she decided to go to university at the age of 16, to become a doctor, even her father, an educated Russian immigrant and community leader, said to her that she would "be taking up a space for a man." Dr.