Dear Colleagues,

We are deeply saddened to share that Nancy Sherman, a respected member of the Humber community, passed away on April 25, 2025.

From an expert in international development projects to the acting dean of Humber’s Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology, Nancy Sherman had an impressive 50-year career.  She was a wonderful friend to Humber and generously shared her knowledge and extensive experience in trades, technology, and apprenticeship. We often called on her for support, and she was always willing to step up.

Nancy began her career by working in more than 15 countries in a diverse range of sectors including sustainable development, agriculture, early childhood education and technology. She developed an appreciation for, and skills in, leading interdisciplinary teams which is increasingly the hallmark of “environmental management.” She always said that she had “a little bit of knowledge in a thousand different things” that allowed her to be flexible in her career.

Following her achievements abroad, Nancy returned to Canada where she had a successful 20-year career in post-secondary education. In 2015, Nancy returned to a consultancy practice in strategic planning, higher education, and internationalization and was ideally positioned to take the helm in 2016 as the Acting Dean of FAST.

With a birds-eye view, she strengthened the framework so faculty and staff would have multiple opportunities to have their voices heard and more importantly, allow everyone to have a leadership role with the confidence that FAST could positively move forward.  In early 2017, she passed on the leadership baton and has since maintained an excellent relationship with her Humber colleagues as she continued to do occasional work with Humber.

Nancy was joyful, kind, and deeply committed. She will be greatly missed. As a pioneering female leader, she used her position to support and uplift many women in the trades and technology professions. She was truly a trailblazer. In her honour, we leave you with Nancy’s own words of wisdom:

“I live by the belief that if you continue to learn and put up your hand to volunteer, it will position you to follow your heart and be ready for opportunities that appear before you. Every little experience somehow gets stuck to another experience.”

A life well-lived, her legacy lives on.

We invite you to send your condolences to her family via this link to an E-card.

Warm regards,