BMO Financial Group Contributes $250,000 for Graduate Scholarships
--- Largest single gift ever by a major financial institution ---
The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) today announced a $250,000 donation from BMO Financial Group for Graduate Student Research Scholarships. Jim Quigley, Vice-President, New Brunswick and PEI, BMO Bank of Montreal, was on campus to present the leadership gift, the largest single commitment from a major financial institution in UPEI's history.
"BMO Financial Group is focused on funding programs that promote learning and research, namely through scholarships that support exceptional young people at universities and colleges both here in Atlantic Canada and across the country," said Quigley. "This leadership gift continues our longstanding tradition of support to ensure that Canadian students have the programs and resources they need and to stimulate research at leading institutions such as UPEI."
"Graduate students play an important role at UPEI. We take pride in our students and their research," says Wade MacLauchlan, President and Vice-Chancellor of UPEI. "We are grateful to BMO for their generous donation which will support our graduate students as they pursue leading research in many areas."
In Building a Legacy for UPEI and the province, creating research opportunities for graduate students is among the university's top priorities. Research facilities are being expanded at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) and modernized in the Duffy Science Building to ensure students continue to receive high quality education with up-to-date technology. This is complementary to the establishment of the NRC Institute for Nutrisciences and Health on the UPEI campus and the university's Faculty of Science.
Graduate students will be selected for the BMO Financial Group Graduate Scholarships based on the quality of their undergraduate record and research proposals. Awards will be for $5,000 per year for five years and the remaining funds will be invested in an endowment fund that will provide sufficient income to award scholarships of at least $10,000 per year every year thereafter. The recipients of the BMO Financial Group Graduate Scholarships will be representing the advances made in leading-edge research taking place at UPEI. To recognize the growth in research capacity created through the $32 million expansion to the Atlantic Veterinary College, a regional centre of excellence for research and service, the first five years of scholarship awards will be directed to students in Masters or PhD studies at AVC.
The leadership gift from BMO is an important contribution to the UPEI Building a Legacy campaign. With a goal of $50 million, Building a Legacy represents the most ambitious financial campaign ever embarked upon by UPEI. Since it was launched in April 2003, over $30 million has been committed to the University by private and corporate donors. More information on Building a Legacy is available at http://www.upei.ca/legacy/.
Since 1817, BMO Financial Group has supported the principles of community reinvestment and corporate and social responsibility to the communities it serves.
BMO Financial Group contributed more than $29 million in corporate donations, sponsorships and events in 2004, supporting thousands of communities, charities and not-for-profit organizations in Canada.
