Editing Gairdner Foundation (section)

== History ==

The Gairdner Foundation was created in 1957 by James Arthur Gairdner (1893-1971). Known as Big Jim to his grandchildren, he was, indeed, a larger than life figure. Described by his friends as a talented maverick and visionary, Gairdner was a colorful personality who lived large. He was, by turns, an athlete, a soldier, a stockbroker, a businessman, a philanthropist and a landscape painter. When he died, he left his private estate to the Town of Oakville as an art gallery, which still operates today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oakvillegalleries.com/about/history|title = Oakville Galleries}}</ref>

While he had always had an interest in medicine, it was the onset of severe arthritis in his early 50s that led Gairdner to become involved with the newly created Canadian Arthritis and Rheumatism Society. In 1957 he donated $500,000 to establish a foundation to recognize major research contributions in the conquest of disease and human suffering. The Gairdner Foundation was thus born, which was to be his most lasting legacy.