Olds College president Tom Thompson says a $16-million gift to the institution, announced Friday, will enable it to create top-notch, exciting learning opportunities for its students.
He says the gift from David P. Werklund and partner Susan Norman, announced Friday during the annual Olds College Gala, will enable the college to unite students with the very best agricultural producers in the world.
College officials say the gift is the largest-ever personal donation to an Alberta college or technical institution.
Among other things, the money will be used to create the Werklund Agriculture Institute (WAI), which will specialize in smart agriculture.
"One of the things that he envisioned was a student would be able to be mentored by the very best in the industry," Thompson told the Albertan.
"So you would couple one of these students with, say, the best cattle producer or the best grain producer or the best corn producer.
"That mentorship piece might require Internet connectivity and within the context of a growth centre, that student would be able to interface with some of the great producers in the world - not just in the region or the province, but wherever they may be in terms of that mentorship," he added.
Thompson predicts the WAI will be set up by the fall of 2018. He says a building will be constructed to house the centre, which will be named after Werklund.
He said the WAI ties in nicely with a partnership between Olds College and Saskatchewan Polytechnic, announced a few weeks ago, that also involves the use of smart agriculture via the use of the latest technology.
Thompson said Olds College is extremely grateful for the gift.
"I know that we are (grateful). But I think that the real benefit here will ultimately be the students - the first students - who are admitted into the program and then actually go through this process," Thompson said.
It's taken a while to get to this point though.
"These things, they take a long time to develop. This one has taken pretty close to two-and-a-half years from the very first day that Mr. Werklund came to visit us at the college to lay out what he called his dream," Thompson said.
"Then you go through a long process of building relationships and then you know, you get to a point where both parties are agreeable to ride the range together so to speak. You start into the planning process and then one day, it all materializes."
"I think that the real benefit here will ultimately be the students - the first students - who are admitted into the program and then actually go through this process."TOM THOMPSON PRESIDENT OLDS COLLEGE
