Donors & Endowment

Mental Health Gift Largest in Canada

A generous donor, who wished to be identified only as a close friend of UBC, has contributed $10 million -- the largest gift ever to mental health in Canada.

With a $10 million match from the provincial government, UBC is using the gift to establish the UBC Institute of Mental Health. $15-million will be endowed to support three chairs in the fields of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry and Depression, and Psychotherapy.

The $5 million balance, also endowed, will create fellowships, junior faculty positions, and help to foster greater collaboration and communication between basic and clinical researchers and mental health professionals throughout the province of British Columbia.

Alumni Couple Give $8 Million to Biodiversity

Ross and Tricia Beaty's $8 million contribution to biodiversity is set to open in 2007

Ross Beaty, B.Sc., LL.B., a 53-year-old geologist, mining entrepreneur and chairman of Pan American Silver Corp., and his wife, Trisha, B.Sc., M.D., have contributed $8 million toward a biodiversity project that is unique in Canada.

The Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre, a $50-million project that will include the Beaty Museum of Natural History, will house more than 30 UBC scientists in disciplines ranging from genomics to oceanography.

The five-storey, 12,600 sq.-metre centre is expected to open in November 2007.

Chan Family Leads Again

The Chan family has stepped forth yet again to support culture, the arts and UBC. In 1991, two brothers, Tom Chan and Caleb Chan, made a generous donation to UBC (matched by the provincial government) to create a signature building on the Point Grey campus, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and to establish the Chan Endowment Fund. The Chan Shun Concert Hall within the Chan Centre was named in honour of their father, Chan Shun (1917 - 1997).

Now, the Chans have committed an additional $1 million toward the Chan Endowment Fund, bringing it to $5 million, halfway to its $10 million goal.

This Fund was established to support cultural and performing groups, including the UBC School of Music and the Department of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing.

Impact of UBC's Largest Donation Still Growing

A gift from Stewart and Marilyn Blusson helped realize the laboratory, above, named for UBC's late Nobel Laureate Michael Smith

In 1998, Dr. Stewart and Mrs. Marilyn Blusson gave UBC the largest donation in its history: $50 million. That money has since been essential to the realization of 61 projects involving federal and / or provincial grants that were conditional upon UBC providing a contribution from non-government sources.

The Blusson contribution has thus facilitated projects totaling $292.3 million in value, including $108.8 million from the federal Canada Foundation for Innovation, $108.7 million from the BC Knowledge Development Fund and $31.8 million from other partners.

In the last year, the Blusson gift supported projects such as the Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems, the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Centre for Blood Research.

Banking on International Relations

More Canadian and Mexican students can forge international links thanks to a Scotiabank gift of $750,000 to UBC and The Monterrey Institute of Technology University System (Tec de Monterrey).

UBC and Tec de Monterrey established a Joint Academic Program in 2001 and in 2003 added a joint residence on the Point Grey campus to encourage students from both countries to travel and share their distinct cultures.

Scotiabank's funding will help participating students pay tuition or living costs. About 100 Tec de Monterrey students are currently at UBC, while 20 UBC students are attending Tec de Monterrey.

Choquette Backs "Cultural Fluency"

The Choquette Family Foundation has established the Choquette Family Foundation Global Student Mobility Award, to help make more students "culturally fluent."

The Choquette Family Foundation will offer awards totaling $100,000, currently $10,000 each, for undergraduate or graduate UBC students participating in recognized student exchange programs in Quebec or elsewhere outside of Canada, excluding the United States of America.

The 10 inaugural recipients of the award have recently been chosen and the students have now departed for universities around the world.

Support for UBC Increasing
UBC Endowment Fund at market value ($million), 1996 - 2005	A key strength of any university is its endowment, that fund from which investment income literally makes a world of difference. Endowment income supplies scholarships that level the playing field for promising students, and it supports research by leveraging government and other research investments into tomorrow's discoveries. UBC alumni and other generous supporters are now seeing their gifts grow as revenue from property leases from the emerging University Town begins to enter the endowment.	UBC total funds raised, 1996 - 2005

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