The Michael Stevenson Presidential Legacy Fund
Dr. Michael Stevenson will retire from SFU as the university’s longest-standing president on August 31, 2010.
In honour of his many years of bold leadership, we are seeking donations toward the Michael Stevenson Presidential Legacy Endowment Fund. Proceeds from the endowment will be used to fund graduate scholarships, supporting Dr. Stevenson’s belief that research is the raison d’etre of the university. Strong graduate scholarships will attract the best students from around the world to SFU, just as they attracted Dr. Stevenson from South Africa to one of the leading universities in North America for his own graduate studies.
Over the past decade, Dr. Michael Stevenson led one of the most ambitious programs of organizational change and development of any Canadian university. He has helped shape Canadian scholarship and is leaving a lasting legacy of increased educational capacity and expanded facilities for future generations of students and researchers as well as the communities surrounding the university. A bold and passionate leader, his achievements include:
- championing and leading the move of SFU Contemporary Arts into the Woodward’s redevelopment project, insisting it go beyond the traditional teaching and performance mandate of an art school to connect arts programs and artists with the community and help drive the social and cultural renewal of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
- leading the university’s expansion into Surrey to build on SFU’s success in making post-secondary education accessible to everyone in a region with huge gaps in educational achievement and a growing school age population
- creating the Segal Graduate School of Business in downtown Vancouver
- expanding the Burnaby campus with the addition of Blusson Hall, home to the new Faculty of Health Sciences, two new buildings for expanded science and applied science programs, Saywell Hall for social science programs and significant additions to student residence and athletics facilities
- advocating for the internationalization of education and research, resulting in dual degree programs in computing science with Zhejiang University in China and in International Studies with Monash University in Australia