A transformative gift from the Larry & Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation to the University of Toronto, combined with matching funds from U of T, is creating a unique $5-million chair dedicated to women's sport. The new chair will impact the lives of women athletes for generations to come.
The newly endowed Tanenbaum Knowledge Translation Chair for Science in Women's Sport will strengthen the groundbreaking work of the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport, which the foundation established through a visionary benefaction in 2022. The chair will ensure that cutting-edge research and evidence are translated into practical tools, guidance and resources, and inform the critical decisions that athletes, coaches, parents, clinicians, educators and sport leaders make every day, directly improving the health and performance of women athletes.
"Larry and Judy Tanenbaum's new gift further elevates the University of Toronto as a national and global beacon for sport science and innovation," says Melanie A. Woodin, President of U of T. "Thank you, Larry and Judy, for your important and timely benefaction and for helping us improve the lives of women athletes in Canada and beyond."
The Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport is based at the university's Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. Through critical knowledge partnerships, the institute brings together the leading sport science research of kinesiology with the medical research expertise of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the renowned orthopaedic sports clinical and research leadership of Sinai Health.
A critical moment for women athletes
The Tanenbaums' gift arrives at a critical time. Women's participation in competitive sport has risen dramatically across the world and in recent years, the number of professional women's sports teams, along with public interest in high-performance women's sport, has surged. More than 17 million Canadians identify as fans of women's sport and the 2024 Rally Report found that 63 per cent of Canadian girls aged 6 to 18 participate in organized sport at least weekly, a steady increase since tracking began in 2016. Yet research hasn't kept pace with this cultural shift, leaving a deficit of knowledge about women athletes' health and performance. What's more, the research that does exist doesn't always reach the people who need it most.
The new Tanenbaum Knowledge Translation Chair for Science in Women's Sport will meet these challenges head on. First, the chair will lead an ambitious program of research in this historically understudied area, generating and synthesizing findings on some of the most pressing issues in women athletes' health and performance. A living lab forum will bring together athletes, coaches, clinicians and sport scientists to support this work.
The chair's impact will extend well beyond research. It will also translate evidence into a robust suite of accessible, public-facing materials designed to directly benefit women athletes and those who support them, including an evidence-informed podcast series on athletic performance and a women's sport playbook: an online hub featuring evidence briefs, toolkits, expert insights, video resources and more. The hub will give athletes, coaches, clinicians, sport scientists and others credible, evidence-informed resources that can be applied in real-world sport settings, while centering the voices and lived experiences of former and current women athletes, coaches and practitioners alongside scientific evidence.
"The Tanenbaum Knowledge Translation Chair for Science in Women's Sport will help ensure that women athletes are not only represented in sport, but that their health, performance and lived experiences are at the centre of the science that supports them," notes Gretchen Kerr, Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education at U of T. "This newly created role will accelerate innovation and strengthen the Tanenbaum Institute as a global powerhouse for research in women's sport an area of growing importance and significant unmet need. We are deeply grateful for Larry and Judy Tanenbaum's forward-looking investment."
Rewriting the rules of play
Partnership will constitute a key part of this work. By drawing on the interdisciplinary connections made possible by the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport and U of T, and by collaborating with universities, sport organizations, health-care providers, athletes, schools, community groups and advocacy partners, the chair will ensure the research responds to real-world needs and reflects the realities of women athletes' health and performance.
The chair will also help develop the next generation of leaders in this emerging field, reaffirming the Tanenbaum Institute and U of T as global leaders and prime destinations for discipline-spanning research, partnership and philanthropy focused on women athletes' health and performance.
"The Larry & Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation is helping us rewrite the rules of play when it comes to understanding women athletes' health and performance," says Michael Hutchison, Director of the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport. "The work of the Tanenbaum Knowledge Translation Chair for Science in Women's Sport will be academically rigorous and publicly relevant as they work to move the latest research into lasting action. This unique role is an exciting development for women's sport."
A global sports powerhouse
Toronto itself is an ideal ecosystem for this chair. The city, which this year saw the launch of the Tempo, Canada's first WNBA team, is one of North America's most dynamic sports environments and a global sports powerhouse. Together, Toronto's position as a global sport hub and U of T's internationally recognized strength in sport science and sport medicine research create an unparalleled environment for interdisciplinary research, collaboration, innovation and philanthropy focused on women athletes' health and performance. The chair will further solidify the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport's global standing and with it, Toronto and U of T as leading destinations for advancing knowledge and practice in women's sport, and Sinai Health's standing as a renowned hub for clinical and research leadership.
"We're thrilled to help establish the Tanenbaum Knowledge Translation Chair for Science in Women's Sport," says Larry Tanenbaum on behalf of the Larry & Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation. "This distinct and much-needed role will foster greater dialogue and information sharing among athletes, coaches, clinicians and researchers, giving them the knowledge they need to make informed decisions when it comes to sport and women's health."
The Larry & Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation's gift contributes to Defy Gravity: The Campaign for the University of Toronto, which has been raising the bar for engagement and charitable giving in this country and fuelling U of T's mission as one of the world's largest engines of social mobility and progress. This new chair is part of U of T's endowed chair matching program, which aims to attract and retain talented scholars to and in Toronto.
The gift builds on the Tanenbaums' previous generosity to U of T. In addition to powering the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport, they championed the creation of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and established the Sam and Alice Lieberman Professorship in Hebrew Studies.
"Through their remarkable generosity, Larry and Judy Tanenbaum are channelling their passion and impacting a vital area of research," says David Palmer, Vice-President of Advancement at U of T. "They continue to offer a compelling example of how visionary donors can step up to the challenges of the moment and make a difference."
By connecting world-class research with the people and organizations shaping women's sport, the Tanenbaum Knowledge Translation Chair for Science in Women's Sport will help turn knowledge into action, and position Toronto and the University of Toronto at the forefront of a new era in women's sport. It is a vision made possible by the extraordinary generosity and foresight of Larry and Judy Tanenbaum, whose investment will help build a healthier, better-informed future for women athletes in Canada and around the world.
