Westman gift builds real estate centre
U of C to offer industry-specific education
Developer Jay Westman’s $5-million donation to the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business will help it build future real estate leaders.
The Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies will offer academic and research programs specific to the industry while serving as a resource for realtors and companies, said school officials.
“The real estate and development industry has had a strong hand in shaping this community and in building Calgary’s reputation as one of Canada’s most entrepreneurial cities,” said Westman, chairman and chief executive of Jayman MasterBuilt, a company he co-founded with his late father in 1979.
Westman described the real estate industry as the “backbone of our economy,” with the residen- tial sector alone accounting for $15 billion in Alberta.
“The industry has really come of age here. I am committed to its ongoing strength through the development of responsible business leaders, and I believe the Haskayne School of Business is the place to make that happen,” he said.
With seed funding from industry, Haskayne began offering real estate elective courses in the Bachelor of Commerce and MBA programs in 2012, and expanded those programs in 2013.
Westman’s donation supports the school’s aim to offer a full un- dergraduate concentration in real estate and an MBA specialization in the next two years.
“This centre will promote leadership development and fill a need in our community by training future leaders in the real estate industry,” said U of C president Elizabeth Cannon.
Jim Dewald, dean of the Haskayne School, said the Westman Centre will help the school become the country’s best for real estate education.
“This transformational gift will help take us there,” he said.