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Peter Stoicheff’s tenure as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan is ending on a high note.
On Thursday, the university announced a $10 million donation from philanthropic alumni couple Xiaoping (Bob) Xu and Ling (Linda) Chen, honouring Stoicheff for a decade of leadership at the post-secondary school.
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Stoicheff is set to depart his role on Dec. 31.
The donation, which is earmarked for the College of Arts and Science, will enhance the David L. Kaplan Chair in Music program, the university explained in a statement, along with a threatre expansion, extra support for students and curriculum modernization.
“In profound appreciation for your leadership and dedicated service to our alma mater, and with deep gratitude for the education that transformed our lives, Linda and I are delighted to commit $10 million to the University,” Chen and Xu wrote in a letter accompanying the donation.
“This gift is our way of expressing the lifelong gratitude we feel.”
Xu said he still reflects on his own convocation speech in the 1980s, when he said the university’s generosity “felt like an unfathomable gift.” He said that experience helped shape who he is today, and he hopes to sustain that spirit through the donation.
Xu and Chen previously helped establish the David L. Kaplan Music Scholarship through a $1 million donation in 2010. The scholarship – named for Kaplan, a professor emeritus at the university who conducted the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra for 10 years before his death in 2010 – provides financial support for music students at the university. They followed that donation up with a $2 million gift in 2017 to create the David L. Kalplan Chair in Music, develop a strings program with the university’s music department, and provide new opportunities for students to travel and perform around the world.
“He embraced us with profound love and care when we first arrived to Canada from China in the 1980s as graduate students,” Xu said about Kaplan back in 2017. “His strength of character, warmth and unconditional devotion to his students serve as the model by which we—and countless others—live our lives. The way he treated us left a deep impression on me, and I thought of him as a role model as I started my own career as a consultant for Chinese students who wanted to study overseas.”
Xu, who graduated with a master’s degree in music in 1992, co-founded the New Oriental Education & Technology Group in 1993. The organization has become the largest provider of private education in China, the university said, training more than 15 million students. He also established China’s largest seed fund, which invests in new businesses to help promote innovation, and was named to a list of the world’s top 100 venture capitalists by Forbes magazine.
He received an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from the U of S in 2017, and during his addresss reflected on the role the university played in his life.
“Sometimes we get more than we deserve. I know this, because it is how I have always felt, about what I received from the University of Saskatchewan,” he said. “The university has honoured me, but really, I am here today to honour the university. “
Stoicheff said the couple’s latest gift will be “transformational” for the college.
“I am inspired by Bob and Linda’s commitment to creating educational opportunities for everyone through their extraordinary philanthropy,” the university president said in a statement.
“Such generosity from our alumni demonstrates the lasting impact of education and affirms our aspiration to be what the world needs. I am truly humbled and honoured.”
