Vivienne Poy

Who is Vivienne Poy?

Vivienne Poy was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1998. Poy came to Canada as a university student in 1959. She is the first Canadian senator of Asian ancestry. She graduated from St. Paul's Co-educational College, McGill University, Seneca College and the University of Toronto.

For 14 years, Poy served as president of Vivienne Poy Mode, a fashion design company that she founded in 1981. She was selected as Chancellor of the University of Toronto in December 2002.

Poy is the daughter of Richard Charles Lee, and granddaughter of the famous Hysan Lee, who was tied to the Hong Kong opium refinery business and land development in the early 1900s, and Esther Yewpick Lee. Vivienne Poy is also the sister-in-law of Adrienne Clarkson, who was Governor General of Canada from 1999 to 2005. Vivienne Poy's husband Dr. Neville Poy, a retired plastic surgeon, is Clarkson's brother.