News

The University of Victoria Foundation announced today it has invested $25 million in the Brookfield Global Transition Fund (BGTF) with a strategy to invest in opportunities that advance and facilitate the global transition to a net-zero carbon economy. This new commitment is an infrastructure investment within the foundation’s statement of investment policy and goals and is consistent with the target to reduce the carbon intensity of all investments by 45 per cent by 2030.

University of Victoria microbiologist Caroline Cameron has received $2 million US from Open Philanthropy, the largest grant the US-based organization has given to a single Canadian university. The grant will fund Cameron’s research for developing a direct diagnostic test and vaccine for syphilis.

UVic's first Impact Week is taking place from March 14-18. There are so many acts of generosity that contribute to making UVic what it is today. Throughout Impact Week, students, staff and faculty, and community members are invited to read and reflect upon these acts, as well as take part in some events on campus!

With its colourful sprinkle theme, Giving Tuesday has become a favourite annual tradition at the university. Thanks to tremendous support from alumni, UVic faculty and staff, sponsors and other supporters, this year’s event raised $178,673, pushing the multi-year total over half a million dollars.

A $1.5-million gift from UVic political science alumnus Bruce McKean will allow the University of Victoria to establish a new research chair in Indigenous mental health. The chair will be named after the late Chief Mungo Martin, the world-renowned Kwakwaka’wakw artist who contributed so much to the creative arts which play an integral role in shifting cultural perceptions of mental health.

The university's annual Giving Tuesday event is back this November 30, with a widened community focus and a variety of ways for people to take part, both online and in person.

Marion Buller—influential Indigenous legal scholar and the chief commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)—has been named the University of Victoria’s 12th chancellor. She begins a three-year term on Jan. 1, 2022. Buller is a double alumna, having completed her undergraduate and law degrees at UVic. She is also a member of the Ring Road Loyalty Circle, which recognizes loyal UVic donors.

University of Victoria men's soccer alumnus Simon Keith, one of the longest living organ transplant recipients in history, has established the Simon Keith Foundation Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame award to provide financial support to student-athletes whose life has been directly impacted by organ donation. In partnership with the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame (GVSHOF), the new $3000 award will provide one or more awards annually to a varsity student-athlete who has received, made, or been directly affected by an organ donation.

A Q&A with the new Wayne Crookes Professor in Environmental and Climate Journalism reveals how Sean Holman hopes to bring a more human dimension to the climate crisis.

Two standout students will join the University of Victoria community this fall as recipients of the prestigious national Schulich Leader Scholarship.

With growing demand for engineering and computer science programs, the University of Victoria and the Province of British Columbia are building new state-of-the-art learning facilities and expanding programs. This enables more students to work toward high-impact solutions in fields such as environmental sustainability and health-care technologies.

The new 2021 Report to Donors features stories of donor generosity and its impact at UVic and beyond.

A scholarship has been created in memory of Nancy Wright, a nurse practitioner and senior instructor at the University of Victoria School of Nursing, who passed away in August 2020. The scholarship will support graduate students in the Masters of Nursing Nurse Practitioner program with a demonstrated interest in nursing with marginalized populations.

UVic Law remembers Joseph J. Arvay, OC, OBC, QC, LLD with the establishment of a legacy fund

The Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society (VNCS) has created the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society Award for undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. This endowed award will support innovative and creative research in Japanese Canadian history, art, culture and language.

Friends and colleagues of a longtime surgeon from Vancouver Island have started a scholarship in his memory. Dr. Michael Ross, an ear, nose and throat specialist, practiced medicine for 60 years, finally retiring at 85 last October. He passed away in December. Organizers have already raised more than $49,000 toward the goal of $65,000 for the new scholarship for an Island medical student who is training to be a surgeon. The award will be the first scholarship awarded solely to an Island medical student.

Over the past five years, Giving Tuesday at UVic has become a unique, fun and heartwarming tradition that increasingly inspires support. This year, it raised $148,260 for 20 different funds on campus. That money will support students, power exciting research and expand outreach programs that encourage safe and healthy communities.

Baneet Hans, a first-year student in the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, is one of the first recipients of a new Scotiabank scholarship program for Law Students, which will see the bank commit more than $500,000 over five years. Six faculties of law across Canada will award scholarships on behalf of Scotiabank to fund students interested in pursuing a career in the legal profession with a goal to support and advocate for anti-racism in law.

The threat of climate change is the most perilous of our time—especially at the beginning of this new decade, which has been frequently identified as the most crucial for preventing catastrophic consequences. Now, one concerned individual is personally addressing that threat with an inspiring gift of $1.875 million to the University of Victoria in support of the Wayne Crookes Professorship in Environmental and Climate Journalism.

In just 24 hours the worldwide community helped us raise over $138,973 (and counting) by coming together for a common goal.

On the 146th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s birthday, the Faculty of Humanities is pleased to announce the creation of the Churchill Foundation Vancouver Island Barry Gough Scholarship in English.

The family of a carpenter from a small village in Cyprus whose dreams brought him to Victoria where his ambition, determination and hard work built the successful Kasapi Construction Co. Ltd. has made a $1-million gift to the University of Victoria that will fund two new student scholarships.

In a year unlike any other, the University of Victoria Vikes still managed to pull off their most important student-athlete scholarship event of the season. The 13th Annual Vikes Championship Breakfast went virtual for 2020 with a near 40-minute capsule of the usual event went live on Nov. 5 for all student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and donors. With UVic matching $200,000 again this year, the 2020 event totalled more than $525,000 for student-athlete scholarships. With financial support still coming in, the 13-year breakfast events have now cleared the $6.1 million mark since the inaugural event in 2008.

Your UVic Philanthropy Week (November 9-15, 2020) is a week-long showcase of philanthropy at UVic. During Philanthropy Week, we celebrate those actions and the people behind them. Look out for daily messages on social media and digital signage highlighting students, staff, faculty, alumni and donors who are giving back through donations of time, money or expertise.

The Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS) is creating new Indigenous Arts and Research Fellowships, thanks to a generous contribution from local Indigenous scholar, artist, and activist, Michelle Brown, together with matching funds provided by the CSRS. Michelle is a long-time friend of the centre, former CSRS community sabbaticant, and co-facilitator of the Reconciliation and Relationship dialogue series hosted at the centre. Michelle currently serves on the CSRS advisory council.

Over the course of her life, mathematician Betty Kennedy contributed to the University of Victoria and the community in so many ways that to a non-mathematician they may seem countless. It is fitting with so much of the generosity that characterized her life that in her passing in 2019, Kennedy bestowed UVic with a $3.6-million gift.

A new University of Victoria fund is set to create ways for donors to support researchers as they find solutions to make our communities stronger and speed up our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two Schulich Leader Scholars will attend UVic in 2019