Don Obe was a professor of magazine journalism at Ryerson, a former chair of the school, and the founder of the Ryerson Review of Journalism. Obe graduated from Ryerson in 1959, earning a Journalism diploma. His professional experience included editor-in-chief of The Canadian magazine and Toronto Life, and associate editor of Maclean's magazine. From 1989 to 1999 Obe was the senior resident editor in the Creative Nonfiction and Cultural Journalism Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Obe also periodically served as the director of this program during this time. During his career, Obe won a gold medal in the National Magazine Awards for ethical writing and, in l993, the magazine Journalism industry's highest honour, the National Magazine Award for Outstanding Achievement. Obe retired in 2001 and passed away in November of 2014.