Ronald Mathison gives $20M to University of Calgary's business school

A local philanthropist and business man has donated $20 million to theUniversity of Calgary for its HaskayneSchool of Business.

The donation from Ronald Mathison, the chairman of MatcoInvestments, will help fund a second building for the business school, the school announced Friday.

It's planning to start building MathisonHall adjacent to Scurfield Hall in 2019.

At a ceremony on Friday, Mathison gave an emotional speech about how he was motivated to make the donation due tohis family's longtime relationship with the Haskaynes.

Mathison's father grew up near Richard Haskayne, for whom the business school is named, east of Calgary in Gleichen, Alta. The two worked in the Haskaynefamily butcher shop, a trade Mathison's father stayed in throughouthis working life.

That experience, Mathisonsaid, taught the two families honesty, hard work, integrity and the value of a dollar.

He said he believes the University of Calgary business school embodies those values, so he wanted to contribute to the expansion.

'Certain symmetry'

When Haskayne went on to work as a top Canadian businessman, Mathison said he used to run ethical questions by his fathersomething his father didn't mention until asked.

"There did seem to be a certain symmetry to having a Mathison building at the Haskayne School," he said, choking up, "to honour their intergenerational friendship and the principles that I tried to describe that were first learned in that small town butcher shop a long time ago."

Mathison said that although his father died last summer at 90, when he learned of the planned donation,he said, "That sounds about right."

"I could tell from that muted reaction that he would have been delighted to be here today," Mathison said.

More space for students

MathisonHall will be a 10,000-square-metre building with a 300-seat auditorium, additional study space, a student success centre and an area dedicated to entrepreneurial thinking.

Elizabeth Cannon, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary, called the donation "a transformative gift."

"It's a fabulous story, the connection between the Mathisonfamily and the Haskayne family. To pull it all togetherit's a great bridge between two wonderful families, two great business leaders and, of course, a great university," Cannon said.

"So it's a great day for the University of Calgary."

Members of both families, including Richard Haskayne,were in the audience at the ceremony.

Enrolment in the university's business school has tripled since it opened in 1986 but currentlythe majority of business classes are held elsewhere on campus.

The new building will almost double the campus's business-dedicated space to allowresearchers and students to worktogether.

Mathison has donated to the university in the past. A donation of $10 million established the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education at the school. He also runs an MBA fellowship program.

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