J Robert S Prichard

n Bay Street, few insiders straddle the dual—and frequently conflicted—worlds of public and private business quite as adroitly as Rob Prichard, the Liberal-friendly former law school prof who has held three of the most high-profile gigs in Toronto: president of the University of Toronto, CEO of Torstar and chair of Metrolinx, Ontario’s transit agency. In his day job, Prichard is non-executive chair of Bay Street law firm Torys LLP, where he specializes in arbitration and public-private partnerships. He chairs the BMO board, holds a handful of other directorships and serves on two economic advisory panels—one for the feds, the other, Queen’s Park. And if John Tory wins the mayoralty in this fall’s municipal election, the nameplate on Prichard’s law firm door will draw him even closer to the beating heart of the action.