U of C honours Husky Energy

Company lauded for $10 million legacy of support

U of C’s top leaders honoured a pace-setting campus supporter Nov. 25 with a reception in the Rozsa Centre’s Husky Oil Great Hall.

The reception honoured Husky’s chief dignitaries, among them the company’s President & Chief Executive Officer John C.S. Lau. Husky Energy’s legacy of support spans 34 years and exceeds $10 million.

Since the company’s first gift in 1969, Husky has made more than $1.74 million in charitable contributions and gifts-in-kind to the university, and engaged in research contracts valued at more than $3 million.

Sponsorship of research totals another $5 million or more. Husky is also recognized campus wide for its contributions of time, expertise and pacesetting support of athletic events and student activities like the Husky Dino Cup and the engineering students’ Mini-Baja project.

“ Indeed, a more generous and long-standing commitment you will be hard pressed to find,” said U of C president, Harvey Weingarten, noting that with additional grants leveraged from Husky contributions, the company has actually helped to realize more than $17 million for the institution.

“ Excellence demands partners like Husky Energy,” he said.

Lau is also proud of the partnership between Husky and the U of C.

“ Today, more than ever, there is an escalating need for corporations to play a major role in ensuring that our communities continue to have high quality education and research, ” Lau said.

“ Husky is proud of our history with the U of C. Our first contribution was made in 1969 to the University’s General Fund. It goes without saying that your success is our success.”

Among Husky’s most substantial investments is the NSERC/Husky Industrial Research Chair in Bituminous Materials. Established in 1995, and made possible by Husky’s $300,000 per year commitment over five years, the chair also benefits from another $1.5 million in contract research commitments.

“ Husky has always been a very innovative and forward-looking company,” says Ludo Zanzotto, the NSERC/Husky Chair holder since the fund’s establishment, nine years ago. “Our close collaboration has created a synergy that has helped the company significantly increase the sale of high quality asphalt outside of Western Canada, and helped U of C produce leading research and talented graduates.”

In March of last year, the U of C recognized Husky’s support of bituminous research with the opening of the Husky Energy Laboratories in the Faculty of Engineering.

Husky Energy has also made gifts towards the Rozsa Centre’s Husky Oil Great Hall, and supported research in petroleum engineering, the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project and the Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology. Two U of C students a year also receive scholarships supported by Husky.

Headquartered in Calgary, Husky Energy ranks among Canada’s largest petroleum companies in terms of production and the value of its asset base.
“ With Husky as a partner, the possibilities for achieving distinction are virtually endless,” Weingarten said.