Donors

Athabasca University supports AU learners by internally funding student awards, bursaries and scholarships for program students throughout the year. Bursaries help off set costs by tuition fee credits, scholarships reward academic merit and there are many hybrid type awards that recognize contributions to community, support Indigenous learners and students with disabilities. 

Past Athabasca University board chair Barry Walker and his family established two awards in 2010. The Walker Family Master of Counselling Scholarship is awarded to a student doing a practicum focused on services to children or youth. The Walker Family Bachelor of Commerce Award recognizes students who demonstrate academic excellence and reside in rural or remote areas of Canada. 

 

Rolf Nielsen's Contribution to the Labour Movement was outstanding! He devoted his entire working life to serving the membership of the ICWU the ECWU and the Communications, Energy and Paperworker’s Union of Canada. He was a Candidate in the Alberta Provincial Election for the NDP and a devoted family man. His dedication to the CAUS Canadian Benefits Trust and its philosophy to provide benefits for Union Members was the best example of Rolf’s efforts to help people and, for this, he will always be remembered.

Past AU board chair David Burnett created the Marlene M. Burnett Award in Nursing to recognize the contributions and achievement of those students completing clinical courses in their nursing program at Athabasca University. This award is intended to help assist the students who travel away from work to complete these courses. 

 

Ralph and Janet Hutchinson established a large endowment in 2011 to support the Ken and Janny Hutchinson Scholarship in Architecture. The award is named for Ralph’s late brother Ken, a prominent Canadian architect, and wife Janny. 

 

Dr. Alex Kondra, professor in the Faculty of Business, has provided funding to create an endowed bursary for students enrolled in an undergraduate Faculty of Business program. 

 

Dr. Frits Pannekoek, Athabasca University president from 2005-2014 and professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, is a strong supporter of student awards at AU. He has provided funding for the AU Indigenous Welcome Bursary and contributes to the AU First in Family Awards.

Dr. Michael Gismondi and Joan Sherman were colleagues at AU who donated funds to jointly create the Nick Evasiuk Scholarship in Sociology to honour Nick Evasiuk, a WWII veteran who fought in the Netherlands before coming to live in Athabasca, Alberta, in 1946. Evasiuk made significant contributions to the community, and is remembered as a businessman, social democrat, poet, advocate of peace and justice, and friend of the environment. 
 

Dr. Neil Fassina, Athabasca University president from 2016-2021, was deeply inspired by our learners’ journeys toward reaching their highest potential. 
An entrance bursary generously funded by his family, supporters, colleagues, and friends  has been established to support AU learners entering a program who have faced and overcome adversity, have imagined a bright future for themselves, and are looking to begin their post-secondary educational journey. 

 

Dr. Pamela Walsh, associate professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, created two awards in honour and memory of her late husband, Wayne Perry. Wayne was hugely supportive of Pamela when she was working on her master’s degree, including typing her thesis on an old Commodore 64 computer. His support ensured she completed her degree. 
Dr. Walsh wants the Wayne Perry EdD Student Research Award and the Wayne Perry MEd (DE) Student Research Award to help other graduate students complete their research. 

 

Dr. Shabnam Inanloo Dailoo, associate professor and director of the Heritage Resources Management program, created the Indigenous Award in Heritage Resources Management as a way to contribute to the collective conciliation efforts taking place at the program, faculty, and university level. 
She was shaken by the tragic news of the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in British Columbia and the news of more discoveries that followed. While reflecting on how she, as an individual, could contribute to conciliation efforts, she become determined to create this award, believing small actions and steps such as this one will help in creating even larger, meaningful, and more impactful actions. 
 

Athabasca University's 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award winner Esmail Bharwani, who earned his first university degree from AU in 1992, found professional success thanks in part to his education. He and his family have contributed to scholarships at many colleges and universities in Alberta and beyond. 

 

Patricia Wieshlow has generously supported the Patrick Heffernan Memorial Scholarship, awarded annually the student entering the second year of an Athabasca University degree program with the highest GPA. 
 

The Rotary Club of Athabasca previously supported a financial need bursary for Northern Alberta students from 2005-2020. The award was revised to better align  with their current strategy to support AU learners who demonstrate volunteerism and community service in the Northern Alberta communities where they live. 

Walker Wood Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated mainly to the funding of scholarships and bursaries for post- secondary students across Canada. Walker Wood Foundation was established in 2006 by Neil C.W. Wood and his wife Susan. Neil arrived in Winnipeg as an immigrant from the United Kingdom in 1954. He became the president of Winnipeg based Fidelity Trust Company in 1963. Over the next 16 years he built Fidelity Trust into a multi-million dollar corporation with offices coast to coast and head offices in Toronto, Ontario. After the sale of Fidelity Trust in 1979 Neil Wood founded Camwood Properties Ltd. and he began purchasing and retro fitting "brick and beam" commercial buildings in the Toronto downtown area. The sale of this office portfolio in 2005 made it possible to establish the Walker Wood Foundation.