Image: Contributed
Anthony von Mandl
A renowned, local wine-industry entrepreneur is being recognized with an honorary degree from Thompson Rivers University on Friday.
Anthony von Mandl is the founder of Mark Anthony Wine Merchants, but is best known as the proprietor of Mission Hill Family Estate Winery.
At TRU’s fall convocation ceremony, von Mandl will receive an honorary doctor of laws, before delivering an address to the school’s new crop of graduates.
TRU president and vice-chancellor Alan Shaver explains that an honorary degree is the university’s highest form of recognition, and is awarded for “demonstrated excellence” in the fields of public affairs, the sciences, arts, humanities, business and philanthropy.
The honour is given to people who have excelled in their field, and whose dedication continues to make a difference in the lives of all Canadians.
“Mr. von Mandl’s impact in B.C. and on Canada’s reputation around the globe are worthy of TRU’s highest honour,” Shaver says. “As our graduates celebrate their achievements and prepare to make their own mark on the world—many of them in tourism and business—they will be inspired by Anthony’s vision for the Okanagan and what it took to achieve his dream.”
von Mandl graduated with a degree in economics from the University of British Columbia, and went on to take an apprenticeship in the European wine trade.
He got his start in the Canadian wine industry as an importer and merchant of fine wines. Recognizing what he believed was a premier wine-growing region in the Okanagan, he later established his own winery here.
Many see von Mandl as a passionate champion of Okanagan Valley wines, who has dedicated much of his life to producing world-renowned wines in the Okanagan.
His pursuit of that dream has seen him appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and awarded the Order of British Columbia; the Okanagan Wine Festival Society’s Founders Award; and The Warren Bennis Award for Leadership Excellence, among others.
von Mandl has also served on the Advisory Boards of the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.
All Biz Releases Stories
