Red Deer Polytechnic will establish the Donald Family Institute for Healthtech Innovation thanks to a record-setting gift.
On Friday, RDP announced the Donald family – Joan Donald, her late husband Jack Donald, and their children John Donald and Kathy Lacey – gifted the post-secondary institution $20 million. This is the largest gift ever received by RDP.
“We are immensely grateful for the Donald family’s transformational gift,” said RDP President Stuart Cullum.
The Donald Family Institute for Healthtech Innovation will bring together diverse teams of experts, practitioners and interdisciplinary researchers, to develop and deliver innovative healthcare education, training and applied research in Alberta, Cullum explained.
“By supporting the health industry as it evolves beyond the status quo, RDP is contributing to the region’s economic diversification and providing the innovative solutions, education and training that will benefit generations of residents here in central Alberta and across the province,” he said.
“On behalf of all of RDP’s students, staff and faculty, I would like to thank the Donald Family for their incredible generosity and support in helping us bring this important healthtech concept to life.”
The Donald Family Institute for Healthtech Innovation joins the already established Donald School of Business, Science and Computing, and the Donald Health and Wellness Centre on the Polytechnic’s campus. In recognition of the Donald Family’s longstanding partnership with the Polytechnic over several decades, College Boulevard (the main road on campus) will be renamed Donald Boulevard later this year.
“As a family, we believe in supporting our community, and one of the best ways to enrich your community is to support education and healthcare,” said Joan Donald.
“I have always felt it was very important to ensure that post-secondary education is accessible to the greater community.”
Joan Donald was previously a member of the board of governors for Red Deer College (now RDP) and served as honorary chair of the RDC Library fundraising campaign, which raised more than $7.3 million for the construction of a new library on campus.
She was also instrumental in raising money for the local Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre Foundation, including chairing the committee that helped raise funds to bring the first Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine to the Red Deer hospital. Additionally, she has been a long-time supporter of STARS as a board member and campaign leader.
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