Engineering school receives $50M boost

Calgary, AB – The University of Calgary’s Faculty of Engineering has received funding of $50 million which will allow for more than 100 new scholarships, increased funding for field trips and engineering clubs, and three new research chairs. The money is comprised of $25 million from philanthropist Seymour Schulich and a matching contribution of $25 million from the Alberta government.

The faculty is being named the Schulich School of Engineering, in recognition of the impact the donation will have on future generations of engineers.

The donation continues Mr Schulich’s legacy of encouraging excellence in post-secondary education across the country and is the first he has made to a university in Western Canada. Schulich has made significant donations to York University’s business school and the University of Western Ontario’s medical school, which are also named in his honour.

“Engineers are society’s builders and innovators. They play a vital role in creating the infrastructure and services that support the standard of living we enjoy in our modern society. We need more engineers in Canada and this profession was an easy choice to support,” he says. “On every measure and metric we looked at, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Calgary has all the attributes and hallmarks of a great Canadian educational and engineering research institution. We are proud to be associated with it.”

The $50-million endowment is the fourth-largest charitable donation to a university in Canadian history and is the first time a Canadian engineering school has been named in a sponsor’s honour.

Mr Schulich, 65, is co-founder of Franco-Nevada Mining, chairman of Newmont Capital and director of Newmont Mining, the world’s largest gold mining company. He is known as one of Canada’s top individual philanthropists, and has donated more than $100 million to various charitable organizations in the last decade.

His gift to the U of C will be used to create engineering scholarships, new research positions and opportunities to further enhance the student experience, including:

– Three new research chair positions to be funded by a minimum of $150,000 per year. One chair will focus on biomedical engineering; the other two will be announced at a later date;
– 102 scholarships of varying amounts;
– $200,000 per year towards covering expenses related to engineering student field trips;
– $200,000 per year towards supporting the activities of student clubs, teams and associations related to engineering;
– Up to $500,000 per year to be spent on expenses such as student job placement, fund raising, recruiting personnel, course development and learning materials.