The Segal Graduate School of Business is a key element in the new campaign.
by Christine Hearn
Photographs of the Segal building : Greg Ghlers/lidc
As the university enters its 40th year, a new capital campaign is being launched. The fund-raising initiative has already raised $85 million.
Headed by Brandt Louie, chair of the SFU board of governors and president of H. Y. Louie Co. and CEO of London Drugs, the money will go to three key areas: research and teaching, enhancing the student experience, and reaching out to the community.
Endowments to set up chairs and professorships that will attract outstanding faculty will be a big part of the campaign. The university has pioneered interdisciplinary research in areas such
as materials science, criminology, kinesiology, resource and
environmental management, communications, and the contemporary arts. SFU is first among comprehensive universities in grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and second in grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
The Reaching New Heights campaign will build on the university’s legacy of innovation and will focus on areas that will expand research and development capacities in areas that have the potential to drive the economy:
• Chair in biostatistics for arthritis and
musculoskeletal diseases
• Chair in cognitive neuroscience in early
childhood health and development
• Chair in salmon conservation management
• Chair in multimedia communications
• Centre for research in electronic materials
• Interdisciplinary research in the math- ematical and computational sciences
The Reaching New Heights campaign will build on the university’s legacy of innovation.
The student experience will be enhanced through curriculum reform, increased access to information, expanded international experience, and more scholarships and bursaries. Curriculum reform will ensure that all graduating students have high-level writing and communication skills; software development will make it easier to access information;
students will have increased opportunities to study abroad; and financial assistance will ensure that no eligible student misses out on an SFU education.
The university will continue to reach out to the community through renewal of the Burnaby campus, expansion of the Surrey campus at the Central City development, and the opening of the Segal Graduate School of Business and the School for the Contemporary Arts, both in downtown Vancouver.
“The response from the community to date is overwhelmingly positive. Donors are clearly inspired by SFU’s pioneering spirit, record of innovation, and vision for the future. We are confident we will be announcing the successful completion of the Reaching New Heights campaign by the end of 2006,” says Cathy Daminato, vice-president, advancement. aq
<www.sfu.ca/advancement/capital/>
