The donation of a 19,000-acre ranch to the University of Calgary faculty of veterinary medicine is the largest gift of its kind to any Canadian university.
W.A. Ranches near Cochrane, Alta. is worth an estimated $44 million and was donated by Calgary entrepreneurs Jack Anderson and his daughter Wynne Chisholm. It will become a beef cattle centre of excellence using the grasslands and ranch herd of about 1,000 commercial Angus cows for integrated research and education.
“We want the University of Calgary to create a leading world centre of excellence in beef cattle research as part of an ongoing working cattle ranch,” said Chisholm who also graduated from Calgary.
Located near Cochrane in the Alberta foothills, the transfer of possession of W.A. Ranches to the University of Calgary will occur this November.
The university plans overarching research into the one health concept where people, animals and the environment are inter-related. Education and public outreach are also part of the future mandate, said Dr. Baljit Singh, dean of the faculty of veterinary medicine.
