Silver boss donates $8m to UBC (February 28, 2005)

Pan American Silver Chairman Ross Beaty and his wife Trisha have donated $8 million to the construction of a “bio-diversity” research centre at the University of British Columbia.

The 5-storey, $50-million centre will include the Beaty Museum of Natural History and house more than 30 UBC scientists in disciplines ranging from genomics to oceanography.

The Beatys live in Vancouver and are UBC alumni. Mr. Beaty, 53, earned a bachelor of science degree there in 1974. The following year, he received a master’s of mine engineering at the Royal School of Mines in London, and a law degree four years later.

Mrs. Beaty is a local physician who majored in zoology and obtained a medical degree from UBC in 1979.

“The Beatys’ generous gift will strengthen UBC’s research excellence in the area of bio-diversity,” says UBC President Martha Piper. “Research at the new centre will be reflected in museum exhibits and educational programs designed to help people make informed decisions about the environmental challenges that confront us.”

When it opens, in November 2007, the 12,600 sq.-metre centre will feature a display of 17,000 mammal specimens, as well as Western Canada’s largest collection of insects. UBC also boasts the second-largest fish collection in Canada, with more than 800,000 specimens.

Beaty founded Pan American Silver in 1994 and helped establish the Pacific Mineral Museum in British Columbia. Beaty is a fellow of the Geological Association of Canada and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum.