COMMUNITY
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| Pat and Michael Schurman, their daughters Kim Horrelt (far left) and Margo Thompson (second left), and UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan (right) look over the Schurman Market Square from the second level during a recent tour of the university’s new School of Business. |
When UPEI’s new 48,000 square foot School of Business Administration opens later this year, one of the facility’s main features will bear the name of one of the Island’s most prominent business families. The business school’s dramatic, two-level entrance will be called the Schurman Market Square in recognition of the contribution made by the Island’s well-known Schurman family to UPEI. With its architectural interplay of wood, stone and glass, this multi-functional space is designed to reflect the optimism, excitement and forward-thinking of a 21st-century business environment. A permanent display will highlight the Prince Edward Island Business Hall of Fame and its laureates.
Island businessman Michael Schurman, who is chair of UPEI’s $50-million Building a Legacy capital campaign, which is in its final year, is proud of the Island’s only university and to have his family’s name on the business school’s Market Square.
UPEI’s reputation for excellence in education and research has grown immensely, says Schurman, and it continues to grow, attracting the best in faculty and students.
Contributions to the campaign have allowed the university to improve and expand its infrastructure, create scholarships, and to fund research, particularly in the science and social science fields.
The new business school will provide students with a state-of-the-art learning environment and offer new undergraduate programs. It will also include the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, the Centre for Lifelong Learning, the Tourism Research Centre and the PEI BioAlliance.
The Atlantic Veterinary College has also benefitted from the capital campaign. A recently completed 57,000 square foot research complex includes space for animal and human health sciences, workspace for graduate students, and centres of expertise such as the Lobster Science Centre.