Faculty of Management

Cor Van Raay's quiet generosity and support for his community is widely recognized in Southern Alberta. The well-known agribusiness entrepreneur, who came to Canada in the 1950s with very little, was acknowledged in grand fashion for his years of innovative philanthropy recently as the guest of honour at the 26th annual Faculty of Management Scholarship dinner, which raised more than $50,000 for a scholarship in Van Raay's name. 

Van Raay enjoys tribute presentations

In front of a packed banquet room at the Coast Hotel, Van Raay, characteristically a man of few words, expressed his thanks to over 500 guests, then wowed everyone by pledging to match the amount of money raised over the course of the evening to fund an additional scholarship in memory of his late wife, Christine, who passed away in 2006 year from cancer.

"Cor has once again demonstrated his remarkable ability to make things better by helping people, whether it is in business, or through some of his many charitable efforts, such as his support for our scholarships or his work in cancer research fundraising," said Dr Robert Ellis, Dean of the Faculty of Management. "Cor's participation in the Scholarship Dinner was a great experience for us, and to be additionally surprised by his matching gift and second scholarship in Christine's name was honestly quite amazing. We can now help even more students through his generosity."

Van Raay earlier expressed his thoughts about the motivation behind his philanthropic activities.

"You can't take it with you," said Van Raay. "I get more joy out of giving some [money] away than using it to build up my own wealth. I have the capacity to do this, so why not?"

Both scholarships will be awarded to a Faculty of Management student in the first year of studies, based on academic proficiency.

More information on scholarships and awards

Dr. Robert Ellis presents Faculty gift to Cor Van Raay		Van Raay and guest with former Scholarship Dinner honorees Dr. Ray and Dr. Ingrid Speaker.