The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
Laurentian University’s School of Engineering got a new name and a huge financial boost Thursday. Stan Bharti, chairman and CEO of Forbes & Manhattan, Inc., announced a $10-million gift for the engineering school.
In recognition of the donation, Laurentian University president Dominic Giroux said the university will rename the school in the Bharti family’s honour.
“We have very fond memories of the many years during which we lived and raised our family in Sudbury, and wanted to give back to the community,” Bharti said in a statement. “Our family is very proud of the momentum at Laurentian University.
“We wanted to be part of it and encourage other families with an affinity for Northern Ontario or the mining sector to support The Next 50 Campaign.”
The donation is part of the Sudbury Families initiative, bringing the total raised for Laurentian’s The Next 50 Campaign to $48.6 million.
Laurentian plans to raise $50 million for The Next 50 Campaign. The university said the money will drive creativity, innovation and prosperity. Key projects that will receive money include:
* the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre;
* the School of Architecture;
* the School of Mines;
* the international accreditation of its Faculty of Management; and
* an expanded endowment fund to increase opportunities for researchers, graduate students, and student athletes to excel through the creation of research chairs, fellowships, and scholarships.
The Bharti family’s gift will be invested in an endowment to the exclusive use of the Bharti School of Engineering.
“The endowment fund will be used to enhance the student experience by ensuring that we attract top faculty and provide our students with first class opportunities to learn both inside and outside the classroom,” said Ramesh Subramanian, director of the Bharti School of Engineering.
“Moreover, the endowment will ensure that we can attract the best and brightest students through scholarships and promote our programs nationally.”
The endowment will be used for improvements to classrooms and teaching labs, equipment, software, student field trips, internships and cooperative placements, scholarships and fellowships for top students, one-time investments to attract top engineering faculty, partial matching of one-time research grants secured by faculty, branding of the school, student recruitment, alumni engagement, career and placement services for engineering graduates, lecture series and conferences.
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