Former Windsor mayor, the late Bert Weeks, left a legacy of community service and generosity that will continue well into the future thanks to a scholarship established by his family in his honour.

Weeks family members and friends gathered on campus Friday to announce the Bert Weeks graduate scholarship, marking what would have been the former mayor’s 100th birthday on July 1 with a celebratory cake.

Scholarship recipient and sociology PhD candidate Ayesha Mian Akram says funding allows students to concentrate on their work with less concern about finances. Her research into enforcement of employment standards recently placed her among the five winners of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s annual Storytellers contest.

“It’s an honour to be recognized as the recipient of the Dr. Bert Weeks Scholarship,” she said. “This funding will help me focus on justice-oriented research projects that will benefit the community.”

The $5,000 gift was funded jointly by Unifor locals 444, 200, and 2486, as well as members of the Weeks family, with two-to-one fund matching through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program, providing a total of $15,000 for student support.

Bert Weeks served as mayor of Windsor from 1975 to 1982 and was a noted advocate for social justice causes and for the beautification of the city’s waterfront. The Bert Weeks Memorial Garden was named in his honour.