Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Spatz, Jim
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Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Dr. Jim (Joseph Myers) Spatz was born in Munich, Germany on March 6, 1949. His family immigrated to Canada through Pier 21 in February 1950, when Jim was around 9 months old. He grew up in Halifax, and attended Dal for Sciences in 1967. He graduated from Dalhousie Medical School in 1974 and started as a General Practitioner in Dartmouth for 5 years. He went to McGill to train in emergency medicine where he worked until 1988. In 1988 he returned to Halifax to work with his father at Southwest Properties. He became Chairman and CEO of the company. Jim serves on the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Jewish Council, Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee and Blue Line Innovations Incorporated. He is a member of the Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank Advisory Board and serves as a Life Director of Neptune Theatre. Jim also served on the Board of Governors for Dalhousie University from 2001 – 2015, and served as Board Chair from 2008 – 2014. In 2007, Jim along with his late father, Simon, were inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. In 2013, Jim received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his significant achievements and contributions to the community. In May 2015, Jim was named Atlantic Business Magazine’s CEO of the Year for Atlantic Canada. Jim is also an active member of the World President’s Organization. He created and helped fund the Simon and Riva Spatz Chair in Jewish Studies, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Dalhousie. The program in Jewish Studies will start in 2015-2016. The Spatz Theatre at Citadel High School in Halifax was dedicated in his family’s name three years ago (2013).