Alumnae Award of Distinction “When I graduated from both the Academy and with my BA, I felt I was empowered to follow my dreams and do anything I wanted and that being a woman was not going to stop me.” Noella Brennan Fisher Alumnae Award of Distinction 2011
Noella Brennan Fisher, ACAD ’59, BA ’62, is a trailblazer and role model who embodies the ideals of the Mount. Brennan Fisher’s professional life has been marked by a number of firsts: • one of the first, if not the first, Mount graduate to become a lawyer • one of the first female lawyers hired by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice • first woman to be named Financial Counsel for the Province of Nova Scotia • first chair and founder of the Canadian Government lawyers section of the Canadian Bar Association • first female member of the Halifax Club Brennan Fisher was the first full-time female member of the Halifax Club, an historic private men’s club. Apparently, her 10-year battle to break the gender barrier at the Halifax Club created quite the stir. According to a Chronicle Herald reporter at the time: “this is a bigger story than the Space Shuttle explosion!” It would take close to another 20 years before the Club would elect its first female president. Brennan Fisher made it possible for Mount grad Judy Steele, BPR ’82, to become president of the Club. Brennan Fisher enjoyed a 25 year career as a lawyer with the Province of Nova Scotia, retiring in 1997. She became a recognized expert in the area of international and national finance and securities law. Her work resulted in a report which established the Nova Scotia Securities Commission and legislation to enact the Provincial Finance Act.
Throughout her career, Brennan Fisher demonstrated a commitment to gender issues having served on federal and provincial committees examining issues relating to women and the law, as well as female lawyers in the legal profession. She was named Queen’s Counsel in 1982 and last year was appointed a Justice of the Peace. Brennan Fisher has been involved in the Mount community in many capacities. As a board member, she served on numerous alumnae association committees, including the selection committee for the Jubilee Alumnae Award of Distinction. She was a member of the Mount’s Board of Governors, chairing a successful fund raising campaign. The Sisters of Charity have played a significant role in her life and she has given back to the Congregation by chairing boards including the Financial Advisory Committee. Her list of community involvement is extensive and ranges from Girl Guides to the John Howard Society to the Royal Commonwealth Society. In her spare time, she enjoys oil painting and geneology. In fact, she recently completed four books on her grandparent’s family histories. Noella Brennan Fisher graduated from the Mount Saint Vincent Academy in 1959, from Mount Saint Vincent College with her Bachelor of Arts in 1962 and she received her law degree from Dalhousie in 1966. We are so very proud to call her a Mount alumna! Noella Brennan Fisher, QC, JP was honoured at the Annual Dinner for Mount Alumnae & Friends on March 3, 2011.
To mark the 90th anniversary of the Mount Saint Vincent Alumnae Association, the Board of Directors reinstituted the Alumnae Award of Distinction. This prestigious award is presented to a Mount alumna/us to recognize distinguished professional achievement, outstanding contribution to the community at large, or a particular field of endeavour. The Mount Saint Vincent Alumnae Association honours the alumna/us by making a $500 donation to a Mount scholarship, bursary or award.
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