Energized by you

Gary Durbeniuk has been a part of the UCalgary community for more than four decades, as a student, alumnus, staff member and, throughout it all, donor. He shares how student awards helped him and his wife, Karen, and inspired them to create a scholarship for students at the university's evolving Faculty of Kinesiology.

As a member of the very first class of engineers to graduate from the University of Calgary, Gordon Forbes is a part of UCalgary history — and he’s investing in its future with a legacy gift in support of the next generation of engineers.

Having immigrated to Canada as children, alumni Patricia Gonzalez and Slavko Uzelac understand the hardships that come with starting over. When they established the Learn, Lead, Inspire Award in 2019, they did so to make life a little easier for students who have children.

When Gail and David O'Brien established the O'Brien Institute for Public Health, they did so out of a passion for medicine and education — and a belief in the critical importance of public health. One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institute has more than demonstrated its immeasurable value.

For his ninth birthday, Cade Morey decided to do something different. Instead of asking for presents, he kindly requested that friends and family donate to lung cancer research, in hopes of helping people like his poppa.

Harley Hotchkiss, who passed away in 2011, had a famously big heart and wide philanthropic reach. His family continues that legacy of transformative positive impact, in particular through their vision and giving around brain and mental health research at the Cumming School of Medicine.

The 2014 Brentwood tragedy that saw five young people senselessly lose their lives was an unspeakably heartbreaking event. But it also inspired an outpouring of compassion and generosity. In striving to help young adults build personal resiliency, Calgary rancher and businessman John Simpson helped create UCalgaryStrong — a dynamic, campus-wide initiative aimed at equipping students with skills to become grounded leaders able to cope with the stress of student life.