During a special听event held at 91亚色's Keele campus, President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri announced a $25-million dollar transformative donation from Pierre Lassonde, chairman of the听Franco-Nevada Corporation, for an expanded School of Engineering.

The announcement was made during a ceremony听in which the Computer Science & Engineering Building, where it was held, was听renamed the听Lassonde Building in honour of the School of Engineering's new听benefactor.听The upbeat event featured the student-constructed Mars Rover unveiling a commemorative plaque showing the building's new name, and the cutting of a giant cake fashioned in the likeness of the Lassonde Building. As part of the celebration, Lassonde was given a leather bomber jacket emblazoned with 91亚色 Engineering by fourth-year space engineering student Shailja Sahani.

Right: Pierre Lassonde shows off his new engineering jacket

鈥�91亚色 is extremely thankful to Pierre Lassonde for his very generous gift,鈥� said Shoukri. 鈥淭his transformative donation will allow us to create a truly unique engineering program that will redefine engineering for the 21st century.鈥�

Based on its traditional strength in humanities, social sciences, business and law, the University is committed to ensuring that听engineering students will be broadly educated to support future economic and social development.

鈥淭he most important natural resource of our country is not its oil or minerals or forests, but our young people,鈥� said Lassonde. 鈥淚t鈥檚 imperative that we give them all the education they need so that they can continue to make Canada one of the best places in the world to live. Through the collaboration of the new engineering program at 91亚色 with one of the most successful business schools in the world, the Schulich School of Business, we know we can make a difference.鈥�

听"Pierre's gift and vision will support a whole new way of thinking about engineering education. His transformational donation will lead to the creation of the Lassonde School of Engineering at 91亚色, with an ambition to graduate a new generation of entrepreneurial engineers with a social conscience," said Janusz Kozinski (left), dean听of the听Faculty of Science & Engineering.

The generous donation from Lassonde, combined with funding from the Government of Ontario and the University, provides an investment enabling 91亚色 to become one of the听top global engineering schools based in Canada.

By embodying 91亚色鈥檚 core values of social responsibility, global citizenship and interdisciplinary education, the new school will provide a unique approach to engineering and entrepreneurship, establishing itself as a destination of choice for top engineering students.

Right:听President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri听

鈥�91亚色 has a rich history of educational innovation, and the broadening of the focus of the engineering school to include business and public policy is a welcome step forward,鈥� said Glen Murray, Ontario鈥檚 minister of training, colleges and universities. 鈥淢r. Lassonde鈥檚 generous gift will accelerate the program and help transform it into a model for next-generation education in engineering.鈥�

More about Pierre Lassonde

Lassonde has a BA from the听University of Montreal (1967), a BSc electrical engineering from Polytechnique, Montreal (1971) and an MBA from the听University of Utah (1973). He received his PEng Ontario designation in 1976 and his CFA, University of Virginia, 1984. He holds honorary听doctorates in engineering from the Universities of Toronto, Montreal and Ryerson, and a doctor of business, University of Utah. 听

In 1982, Lassonde co-founded Franco-Nevada Mining Corporation, the first publicly traded gold royalty company, with his partner and fellow 91亚色 benefactor Seymour Schulich. Over the next 20 years, the company provided shareholders with a 36 per cent annualized rate of return. In February 2002, Franco-Nevada was acquired by Newmont Mining Corp., the world鈥檚 largest gold producer at the time. Lassonde was president of Newmont from 2002 to 2007 and vice-chairman in 2007. He served as chairman of the World Gold Council from 2005 to 2009.

In 2008, he led a group of investors and former executives in bringing back Franco-Nevada to the public market and became its chairman. The $1.2-billion IPO of Franco-Nevada was the largest mining company initial public offering ever done on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The success story continues today as the market capitalization of the company is now over $5 billion.

Left: Celebrating听a sweet moment in 91亚色's history

Lassonde鈥檚 philanthropic activities have had a significant impact on education and the arts. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Centre at the University of Utah was ranked number one in the US in 2010 for its creation of a public company from the University research labs. Other universities that have benefited from Lassonde鈥檚 philanthropy include Polytechnique Montr茅al, and the universities of Toronto, Western Ontario, Ryerson and 91亚色.听

He 听has been chairman of the Quebec National Art Museum since 2005 and has led a $100-million campaign to build a new wing to double the museum exhibition surface. He was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 2002 and an officer of the Order of Quebec in 2008.听听听

Lassonde is also the author of The Gold Book: The Complete Investment Guide to Precious Metals.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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It is a sad day, said two of his 91亚色 professors, political scientists and Daniel Drache. Neither were surprised that the young Layton who enrolled in their graduate classes 40 years ago led the NDP to official opposition status听in May听for the first time in Canadian history. He was bright, curious, open-minded, engaging and unfashionably optimistic even then.听听听

Above: Jack Layton celebrates the NDP's new post-election status at the party's 50th anniversary in Vancouver in June

听

鈥淲hen he walked into a room you immediately saw the tremendous intelligence of this person,鈥� said Laxer yesterday in an interview. He remembers Layton in one of his graduate seminars on political economy in the early 1970s. 鈥淗e was also a guy who loved to meet people and respected other people.听听

鈥淚 knew as soon as I met him that he was someone very special and that he would do important things,鈥� said Laxer, though he couldn鈥檛 have predicted how. Layton could have听made a career as an academic, journalist or politician.听

Right: The young Jack Layton, academic

Layton enrolled in 91亚色 in 1971 to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in political science after earning a BA from McGill University. In a 2003 interview following his election as leader of Canada鈥檚 New Democrats, Layton told 91亚色鈥檚 Universe magazine, a monthly published at the time,听that he came to 91亚色 because his McGill mentor Charles Taylor told him he鈥檇 meet some crackerjack political theorists 鈥� David Shugarman, Daniel Drache, Jim Laxer, 听(who became his mentor at 91亚色) and Fred Fletcher (who became his dissertation chair). And he did.听

Layton grew up privileged in Hudson, Que., a wealthy community west of Montreal. But as a teenager he had noticed how French kids were discriminated against in his community. And 鈥淚 got involved through church and youth parliament in issues like apartheid, social justice, Medicare, the war in Vietnam,鈥� he said in the interview. His interest in social justice and equity only intensified at McGill where, he said, 鈥渢here was a gross distortion of wealth that struck me as so wrong.鈥澨�

Layton got his first taste of municipal politics soon after arriving at 91亚色. He took his first urban politics course with Mike Goldrick and was soon involved in Goldrick鈥檚 campaign for a seat on Toronto city council. 鈥�91亚色 became my entr茅e into what became my career,鈥� Layton told Universe. A year before he completed his PhD in 1983, Layton won a seat on Toronto city council. He was a city councillor for the next 20 years, during which time he also taught at 91亚色 and Ryerson. In 2003, as the federal NDP鈥檚 new leader, he told Universe: 鈥淚 take what I learned at 91亚色 and use it almost on a daily basis.鈥澨�

鈥淛ack was a fighter for a whole lot of causes,鈥� remembers Laxer. 鈥淗e fought for the homeless, for the poor.鈥� He was fighting for the environment when few people were. 鈥淗e was the kind of guy who had huge optimism and didn鈥檛 have any use for fashionable pessimism,鈥� said Laxer. 鈥淗e had conviction that one could make a difference and change things. And he had huge energy and huge intelligence. You saw it in his fights at city hall and in his run for mayor.鈥� After every setback, he never gave up. 鈥淗e never lost that optimistic spirit.鈥澨�

In a message of condolence yesterday, 91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri said the 91亚色 community was "deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one of our own."听 Layton鈥檚 "many contributions to public life were tremendous," Shoukri continued. "He was passionate about politics, and his commitment to social responsibility was unwavering. We were extremely proud that he was an alumnus of 91亚色, and he will be missed by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him. His determination, tenacity and enthusiasm will forever serve as a model worthy of emulation by our students.鈥�

Drache taught Layton a course in Canadian political economy.听听

"Three things stand out about Jack," said Drache 鈥撎齢is open-mindedness, his听curiosity and the importance he placed on critical thinking in public life and social justice.听听

鈥淗e saw that one of the avenues to political change came through new ideas,鈥� said Drache. 鈥淎nd he saw the NDP鈥檚 legacy as the strategic vehicle for bringing new creative thinking from the margins to the mainstream in public life. It made perfect sense for him to identify with this movement and eventually become a fabulous campaigner for it. His ability to speak in plain language about big and small ideas made him in time a formidable campaigner certainly.鈥澨�

Left: Jack Layton in his 2011 campaign portrait

Layton also championed social justice. 鈥淧eople who were vulnerable, families in need, women and newly arrived immigrants 鈥� all these critical groups needed help and assistance to get on with their lives. Jack was a real believer in deep affirmative action to correct historical wrongs. I think this sense of social justice became the beacon in his life that guided all of what he did.听听

鈥淗e had no time for neo-liberalism and its market fantasies, but neither was he particularly ideological,鈥� said Drache. 鈥淗e was a politician chieftain who was results- and evidence-driven with a strong sense of what was right, even if unpopular. He had a moral compass to his political strategizing and never abandoned it in the face of adversity.鈥澨�

Layton reframed this constantly, said Drache. 鈥淛ack was happy to look across the spectrum and mix and match policy ideas. He was always more of a pragmatist than a theorist when a grad student, and very independent knowing his own mind. Looking back it becomes very clear that as a young man he was capable of following his own star. He was less ideological than his contemporaries as a grad student at 91亚色.听He was also clear about what he wanted to do. Jack was always strong and self-confident without being self-centred and egotistical.鈥澨�

Layton put it this way in his 2003 interview with Universe: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 most important is to get out and work on issues affecting people and to become totally engaged in your community. That鈥檚 the best route and the most legitimate route to becoming involved in politics. Some people go the other route and get law degrees, make connections with the rich and powerful. I prefer the [first] route.鈥澨�

A PhD in political science doesn鈥檛 hurt if you鈥檙e going to go into politics, Layton said. 鈥淚 found it gave me a chance to really explore ideas like how to accomplish change in society. It taught me an enormous amount about how to think through public policy and consider issues in a thoughtful way. I couldn鈥檛 overstate the benefits of having that degree.鈥澨�

Right: Jack Layton, optimist

A turning point in Layton鈥檚 career was serving as president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities beginning in 2000, said Drache. 鈥淗e dropped a lot of his left rhetoric as president of the federation and his effectiveness grew. He learned to work with people, to gather and actively build a consensus style of politics. That鈥檚 why he also appealed to Quebecers. He came across as a principled leader, a rarity in today鈥檚 rough and tumble world of parliamentary politics.听听

鈥淗e will be sadly and hugely missed,鈥� Drache said. 鈥淧eople esteemed Jack in a way they esteemed Ed Broadbent, Pierre Trudeau and Tommy Douglas. He won the hearts and minds of Canadians and could have been Canada鈥檚 prime minister. That鈥檚 the tragedy. He was the one person who potentially could have united left and centre Liberals and the NDP. The task will be all the much harder without him. Jack had a special style and people felt a personal connection to Jack. That showed in the unprecedented success of the NDP in the last election.鈥澨�

Laxer said: 鈥淛ack should have been opening that chapter that was the pinnacle of his career.鈥� He had led the NDP to official opposition. 鈥淗is breakthrough in Quebec was historic and has changed the country.

鈥淲hat we have to do now," said Laxer, 鈥渋s take his qualities of optimism and courage and take them to heart.鈥澨�

Layton leaves his wife, MP Olivia Chow. His son, Mike, earned a master鈥檚 degree in environmental studies from 91亚色 in 2006, and has followed his father to Toronto city council. Layton also leaves a daughter and granddaughter.

By Martha Tancock, YFile contributing writer

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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