About the Corbetts

Background:

Gary and Consuelo Corbett were both born and raised in British Columbia – Gary in Victoria, and Consuelo in the Vancouver area. They met while Gary was a student at the University of British Columbia and Consuelo was a student nurse at Vancouver General Hospital. Following their marriage in 1958, they moved to Toronto where Gary attained his Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries. In 1963 they moved to Seattle where Gary worked for Safeco for 20 years. It was in Seattle where they raised their two children, who were both born in Toronto. Consuelo and their son, Daryl, both obtained undergraduate degrees from the University of Washington and Marilyn, their daughter, graduated from the UW School of Medicine. In 1983 Gary and Consuelo returned to Toronto for three years, then to Atlanta and finally to New York, where Gary ended his professional career as Chief Actuary of the Equitable. While Gary was involved in the insurance business, Consuelo used her nursing background to work in preventive medicine and has always been involved with music, as a teacher and a performer. In 1994 they retired back to the Seattle area where they have been involved with community activities and traveled extensively. At home Gary and Consuelo are always up for a game of tennis or bridge.

—

A note from the Corbetts:

Having lived in both Canada and the United States, we have seen the importance of the two countries being good neighbors. Many Americans know relatively little about Canada and most Canadians see the United States primarily through the media or as tourists. However, until you have “walked a mile in another person’s shoes,” you cannot fully understand that person – how they think and how they respond to varying issues.

It is our hope that the Corbett British Columbia-Washington International Exchange Program will play a modest role in reducing these barriers to understanding by giving students the opportunity to live and study in the other country for a full academic year. We believe it takes an academic year – rather than a semester or quarter – to fully appreciate the differences between our two countries. The similarities between Canada and the United States, arising from a shared culture, are far more important than our differences, but significant differences do exist. Canada and the United States have a 200-year history of peacefully resolving these differences. Our hope is that this program will play a role in keeping that tradition alive. We are concentrating our efforts on University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and University of Washington because we and our family have attended all three institutions. Also, we feel that residents of British Columbia and Washington share the basic values that will make it easy and enjoyable for students to adapt to and benefit from a year of study in their neighboring country.

– Gary and Consuelo Corbett