> Mowafaghian donates $4 million to SFU

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Contact:
Hamid Eshghi, Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation, 604.984.2899
Erica Branda, University Advancement, 778.782.3353; ebranda@sfu.ca

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Philanthropist Djavad Mowafaghian is donating $4 million to support SFU Contemporary Arts at Woodward’s. When the school opens in September 2010, two of its major performance spaces will bear his name – the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema and the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre.

The North Vancouver businessman has previously donated $5.5 million to support the new Faculty of Health Science’s children’s health research.

“Djavad Mowafaghian is an incredibly generous man who strongly believes in the transformational power of the arts,” says SFU President Michael Stevenson. “His most recent gift will help to ensure that SFU can make a significant difference to its students and to the Downtown Eastside community.”

Mowafaghian says he is excited to be making the donation to the city of Vancouver, adding, “SFU Woodward’s will be a magnificent gift for one of Canada’s most troubled neighbourhoods. It will be a place where beauty will be taught and created.”

The 350-seat Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, equipped with the latest projection and sound systems, will showcase student film projects as well as festival and community film screenings. It will also be suitable for lectures, panel discussions and large classes.

The Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre will be an acoustically sophisticated venue that will provide a dramatic setting for the performance and study of world music. It will also house SFU’s extensive collection of Indonesian gamelan instruments and African drums.

Backgrounder: the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation

The Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation’s mandate is to better the lives of children through health and education.

Djavad Mowafaghian earned his fortune as a developer in Iran before moving to Vancouver in 1987. His father passed away when he was a young child and his mother raised him in a modest household. He attributes his passion for giving back to the community to her influence.

Over the past 30 years, Djavad Mowafaghian has funded various philanthropic projects and donating to charities throughout the world. In 2003 he created and funded the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation to guarantee the continuation of his philanthropy.

Djavad Mowafaghian’s international philanthropic contributions include:

• More than 70 scholarships for international students in London, U.K.

• The construction of four “pressure rooms” for bone morrow transplants in Geneva, Switzerland.

• The construction of 11 K12 schools and seven trade and technical schools in Iran.

• A heart surgery centre in Iran.

• Construction of six schools and dormitories for the visually and hearing impaired in Iran.

• A dormitory for handicapped girls. 

Local contributions include:

• $ 4 million commitment to BC Children’s hospital in 2010 to build a daycare.

• $6 million in 2004 to the BC Children’s Hospital for a 50,000-square-foot redevelopment of the hospital’s oncology unit and adjacent outpatient clinics. At the time, it was the largest donation from an individual in the history of the Children’s Hospital. The Djavad Mowafaghian Wing was completed in 2007.

• $750,000 in 2005 to Surrey’s Centre for Child Development, providing intensive therapy, childcare and support services to more than 1,800 children per year throughout the South Fraser Region.

• $4 million contribution in 2010 to the University of British Columbia to fund biodiversity outreach and early childhood development research.

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