Dr. Alan Davis

ALAN DAVIS, PHD, PRESIDENT AND VICE CHANCELLOR As we move into spring and all of the hope and optimism that comes with it, it reminds me of the transformational investment we received from George and Sylvia Melville. Many of you know George Melville from his legendary business ventures at Boston Pizza and Mr. Lube, but George and Sylvia Melville are much more than business leaders, they are true community builders and long-time champions of KPU. From their previous donation of $500,000 for the creation of the Melville Centre for Dialogue at KPU Richmond, to two terms as chancellor – George Melville has been incredibly generous with his most valuable commodity – time.

We thanked George for his dedication, passion and knowledge in 2013, by awarding Dr. Melville with a well-earned honorary Doctor of Laws degree. This past September we thanked George and Sylvia once again for their historic $8-million donation to the Melville School of Business.

The donation provides rich, fertile soil which will help thousands of KPU students grow and transform their professional and personal lives. This will help strengthen their families, which, in turn, will help our communities thrive.

Perhaps most importantly, the Melvilles’ investment will provide unprecedented access to education for undergraduate business students, who will be able to access $150,000 of bursaries and scholarships annually. Endowed funds will also allow business students to be able to compete at prestigious case competitions, while the Melville School of Business Venture Fund will allow innovation to take root in new and exciting ways. Perhaps business student Karen Villgracia said it best during her thank you speech to the Melvilles when she said, “Thanks to the Melvilles I believe that we, the students in the School of Business, will be able to focus and allocate more time to our studies in the future, which will allow us to perform better academically, while also contributing more to the community.” They are such profound words, as community has never been more important to all of us. And as we work together to rebuild our economy, it is the graduates of the Melville School of Business who will lead the way today, tomorrow and in the future.

Thank you, George and Sylvia, for being the visionary leaders and community champions that you are and for leaving a legacy at KPU that will provide exceptional equipment, technology, access and opportunities to KPU business students.

Thanks to you, the Melville School of Business takes its rightful place among other prestigious programs and institutions in Canada.