University of Calgary receives $20-million donation for additional Haskayne building

By Matty Hume, June 19 2018 —

On June 15, the University of Calgary announced plans for the construction of Mathison Hall, a new building next to Scurfield Hall, expanding the Haskayne School of Business. The university also announced the reception of a $20-million donation from the building’s namesake, Calgary businessman Ronald P. Mathison, which will help fund its construction.

The $20-million donation is not the first from Mathison, who donated $10 million in 2012 to the Cumming School of Medicine to help establish the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education. Haskayne Dean Jim Dewald expanded on Mathison’s previous financial contributions to the university.

“He’s supported a scholarship for master of business administration students and he’s a member of what we call the Haskayne Founders’ Circle, which are business leaders who donate a minimum of $10 thousand a year to the school,” Dewald said.

Construction is set to begin in 2019 with a slated completion date of 2022. According to Dewald, Mathison Hall addresses various concerns held by Haskayne administration.

“Because a lack of classroom space in Scurfield Hall, [Haskayne students] are spread all over the campus,” Dewald said. “That makes it hard for us to give the quality of education experience you want to give and we think it will have Haskayne students feeling much more like a community.”

Dewald also highlighted the types of classrooms the faculty hopes to include in Mathison Hall.

“Many business schools are turning to something called active learning classrooms, which are more of groups set up with technology,” Dewald said. “We actually built one [such] classroom in Scurfield Hall. Now we’ll be able to add more of that into Mathison Hall.”

The building is expected to be built over Lot 31, a pay-parking lot to the south of Scurfield Hall.

Dewald’s tenure as the Dean of Haskayne was recently renewed for the next five years, beginning on July 1.

“I’m excited, it’s a good time to be dean,” Dewald said. “Lots of good things happening.”

Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously identified the future location of Mathison Hall as the current location of Lot 32. The building will actually be built at the current location of Lot 31. The Gauntlet apologizes to its readers for this error.