StFX alumni David Barry ’66 and the Hon. Jane (Baird) Barry ’65, proud Xaverians and supporters, have established the David and Jane Barry Family Bursary Endowment Fund at St. Francis Xavier University to help students with financial need.
The Barry Family is providing an initial gift of $150,000 to establish the fund. The family intends to continue their support.
“We believe strongly in community involvement. We attribute this belief to values instilled by our families and reinforced while at StFX. We are establishing this bursary to enable others to benefit from the StFX experience. We urge recipients to be active supporters of their communities,” David and Jane Barry say.
Initially one bursary in the range of $5,000-$6,000 will be awarded annually. The Barry Family’s goal is to sustain two bursaries annually. The first bursary will be awarded in the 2025-2026 academic year.
The Barry Family Bursary is open to full-time students who have completed their first year of study.
Jane and David Barry have had a long-standing personal and professional connection with fellow StFX graduate, Frank McKenna ’70, and they say they are aligning bursary criteria with the McKenna Centre for Leadership’s objectives. Students must demonstrate the StFX and McKenna Centre values of character, leadership, humility, integrity and service to others.
Consideration will be given to participation in or contribution to campus life, as well as off-campus community activities such as volunteering for charitable and other non-profit organizations. Students must also demonstrate financial need and be in good academic standing.
Preference will be given to students from New Brunswick in the Saint John, Kings County, or Charlotte County areas, then to students from other areas of New Brunswick. If no student from New Brunswick qualifies, then another student from Nova Scotia, then Atlantic Canada who meets the criteria will be considered.
Both Jane and David Barry graduated from StFX with Bachelor of Science degrees. They raised a family of five sons in the Greater Saint John area and have been extensively involved in the community for decades.
Jane Barry served as a school trustee and later as MLA and cabinet minister for 12 years. She chaired or co-chaired many community groups and New Brunswick legislature committees. She headed the Canadian Federation of University Women-Saint John, West Side Coop Preschool, Saint John Coop, Saint John Teen Pregnancy Committee and Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal and volunteered for United Way, neighbourhood groups and other community causes.
From 1999-2011, she was the first Executive Director of the Greater Saint John Community Foundation.
David Barry, Q.C. was the Chair and CEO of the New Brunswick Securities Commission. He practiced law for 37 years specializing in corporate and commercial law, tax and estate planning. He has served as Chair of the Canadian Law Information Council and a director of its successor, CanLII, a governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation and been active in the Canadian Bar Association. He received the designation ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.
At the community level he has served as President or Chair of the New Brunswick Museum, Saint John Board of Trade, Enterprise Saint John, Saint John Airport Authority and St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation. At StFX, Mr. Barry was recently inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame (X-Men Basketball, Class of 1966.)
