Executives at Simon Fraser University are celebrating both a steady flow of large donations and national attention for ranking No. 1 on Maclean’s Magazine’s annual study of mid-sized Canadian universities for the fourth year in a row.
Since September 2010, the Burnaby-based university, which has Vancouver and Surrey campuses, has been the benefactor of many donations including:
- $7 million in September from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to establish a new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies;
- $22 million in February from Keith and Ryan Beedie to establish the Beedie School of Business;
- $10 million in September 2010 from Goldcorp Inc. to contribute to SFU’s capital campaign and create a Goldcorp Centre for the Arts Community Endowment; and
- $8 million from the Tula Foundation to create the Hakai Network for Coastal People, Ecosystems and Management, which will enable SFU researchers to work with First Nations people.
“We’re a university that has literally come down from the mountaintop,” SFU president Andrew Petter told Business in Vancouver November 1.
“SFU is an engaged university – the opposite of being an ivory tower. We are very much trying to contribute to the community, not only in the traditional ways of educating students and doing research, but also connecting the education program resources and the faculty to goals that can add value to the community.”
Petter, who was formerly the dean of the University of Victoria’s law school, was pleased that his former employer ranked No. 2 in Maclean’s Magazine’s rankings for comprehensive mid-sized universities.
The University of British Columbia ranked No. 3 among the medical doctoral universities behind McGill University (No. 1) and the University of Toronto (No. 2).
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom