donor stories

KEITH MACPHAIL DONATES $10 MILLION TO SAIT POLYTECHNIC.

When Keith MacPhail, PT '81, started his education at SAIT his vision and dream was to be President and CEO of an oil and gas company. Today, as head of Bonavista Energy Trust, he is living that dream. His outlook for the future is to create opportunities for young people so they too can attend a post-secondary institution like SAIT and pursue their dreams.

Thanks to the record-making donation of $10 million he made to SAIT December 7, MacPhail is helping put those opportunities for young people in striking distance. His donation to SAIT is the largest an individual has ever given to a community college or polytechnic in Canadian history. In recognition of the historic gift, the energy department will now be called the MacPhail School of Energy.

"We are ecstatic that one of SAIT's alumni is contributing toward post-secondary education so significantly," says Irene Lewis, SAIT's President and CEO. "The impact of this gift will be profound."

In addition, the Government of Alberta announced it will contribute $10 million to match the gift made by MacPhail.

The $20 million donation will go towards the development of SAIT's new Trades and Technology Centre. By 2012, with the development of a new Trades and Technology Centre, SAIT plans to double the amount of seats it will offer in energy, construction, and manufacturing and automation. All are industry areas with huge demand for more skilled workers.

MacPhail cites his passion for SAIT as one of the reasons for donating to his alma mater. "After completing the Petroleum Technology program at SAIT I knew I could do anything," says MacPhail. "I have had a great career and I am proud to give back. I want to see the Trades and Technology Complex built. I want to see the energy school created. But most of all, I want to see the bottleneck opened up. To the extent it does that and helps another 1,000, 2,000 or 5,000 kids go from high school and into technical school, that's really what I'm looking for."

Source: Alumni Link, Winter 2006