2007 Recipient

TOGA is delighted to announce that Cathy Ferguson Burrows ’75 has been named our first Distinguished Alumna. She was honoured at the 120th Reunion Reception and Dinner on October 19, 2007.

Cathy Ferguson was a student at Trafalgar from 1971 to 1975 and was the Head Girl in her graduating year. Her classmate Lisa Taub wrote “There have been many wonderful, talented and academic ladies that have been amongst my peers throughout my years spent at Trafalgar. In school she was truly respected by both students and faculty. Her personality transcended any cliques as she could openly communicate with any group or age range. She was academic and athletic and always diplomatic. Most important of all she genuinely loved Traf … Cathy had a real connection to all the aspects of our school. When we graduated I always knew that she would succeed very well in life. Mission accomplished.”

Carolyn (North) Warden, another classmate, adds “It is no surprise to me that Cathy would go on in her career to become one of Canada’s (if not North America’s) top female investment bankers. Maybe it was her mom telling her to invest in herself or maybe it was simply self-determination. Whichever, I know that Cathy believes that success for her started at Trafalgar and the excellent instruction was the tool that helped her into becoming the best she is today.”

Cathy F. Burrows works as a pioneer in customer management strategy and execution in financial services. Currently, as Director – Client Strategy for RBC Insurance Canada and was most recently Director of Enterprise Information Management for RBC Centura Bank (a US subsidiary of RBC Royal Bank of Canada) responsible for developing and implementing information strategy to support business process standardization and customer management programs. She is a contributor and editorial panel member of Customer Think, formerly CRMGuru.com, as well as a regular lecturer in MBA and executive education programs at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina. Earlier, Burrows was senior consultant for Teradata, a division of NCR, completing the North American Financial Services Comparative Study of Customer Management (2001), and national manager, Consumer Markets, for Royal Bank of Canada. Before joining RBC Financial Group in 1989, Burrows held marketing and sales roles in consumer packaged goods with Reckitt & Colman Inc. She has a BA in Sociology from University of Toronto, and an MBA from York University's Schulich School in Toronto, Canada.