McGill receives $5-million gift from noted Canadian geologist Bob Wares (McGill University News – September 26, 2018)

https://www.mcgill.ca/

Donation will support Faculty of Science and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

As an entrepreneurial geologist, Bob Wares, (BSc’79, DSc’12), became a mining rock star when he discovered one of Canada’s largest gold deposits in the Abitibi region of Quebec. Now, he is bringing that Midas touch to his alma mater in the form of a landmark $5-million gift that will support research programs, fellowships, innovative research, a lecture series and outreach efforts in McGill University’s Faculty of Science, with a particular focus on his home department, Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS).

The gift will provide immediate impact for students and faculty in five targeted areas:

– the Wares Science Innovation Prospectors Fund, designed to support innovative, high-risk research by funding up to four promising projects a year from researchers across the Faculty of Science;

– a Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator Fund, supporting the activities of a coordinator to liaise with CEGEPs and high schools in an effort to attract more students to EPS studies at McGill;

– the Wares Field Study Fund, supporting field studies in Canada and abroad for EPS students;

– the Wares Postdoctoral Fellowships, which will provide funding for up to four EPS postdoctoral fellows each year pursuing earth science research.

– an Annual Lecture Fund, to bring globally renowned keynote speakers to Montreal to discuss earth science topics or areas of research.

“We would like to thank Bob Wares for this exceptional gift and for his continued support of McGill,” said Suzanne Fortier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. “This donation will make an immediate impact on our Faculty of Science and will greatly enhance important research, education and out-of-classroom student experiences in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

A graduate of EPS, Wares has been a longtime supporter of McGill, contributing to the Faculties of Science and Medicine. In 2009, Wares and his company, Osisko Mining Corporation, contributed $4.1 million to endow two faculty research awards, undergraduate and graduate level scholarships and a field trip fund in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, with part of the gift matched by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.

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