Laurier receives $1.7 million gift for Balsillie Fellowships and CIGI Chairs in International Public Policy

November 14, 2005

Source: Wilfrid Laurier University:
http://www.wlu.ca/news_update.php?grp_id=28&nws_id=1030&filter_type=update

Laurier receives $1.7 million gift for Balsillie Fellowships and CIGI Chairs in International Public Policy

Laurier has officially confirmed a $1.7-million gift agreement from the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

At an awards ceremony held on Friday November 11, Laurier signed the
agreement which will fund 15 Balsillie Fellowships each year to 2008/09
and two CIGI Chairs in International Public Policy for seven years.

The purpose of this generous gift is to strengthen the partnership
between CIGI, Laurier and the University of Waterloo, in the pursuit of
collaborative research on public policy and Canadian-based solutions to governance challenges.

This
initiative was made possible through a generous donation by Co-CEO of Research in Motion and Chair of CIGI
Jim Balsillie. The donation will assist the two universities in building multidisciplinary graduate programs of global caliber on international public policy issues.

There
are two components to the initiative.

The first will support half of
the expected cost over seven years of two CIGI Chairs in International
Public policy at each university, which constitutes new positions at
both universities. The two CIGI Chairs in International Public Policy
will be appointed by Laurier in the 2006/07 academic year. "Laurier is
looking forward to the establishment of these two new CIGI Chairs,"
says Sue Horton, Laurier’s vice-president: academic.

The second
component of this initiative will support 15 Balsillie Fellowships,
valued at $15,000 annually when fully operational by the 2006/07
academic year. The first six fellowships will fund students during the
2005/06 academic year. These highly qualified graduate students will
study international public policy with a special focus on environment,
global governance, human security, and international economic
relations. As part of the CIGI fellowships, students will have the
opportunity to gain valuable work experiences at CIGI itself.

"Laurier
is pleased to be partnering with the Centre for International
Governance Innovation in this fashion," said Horton. "The Balsillie
Fellowships present our graduate students with a tremendous opportunity
and the students, in turn, will prove to be a valuable asset to the
Centre's important work," says Horton.

The inaugural recipients
of the six Balsillie Fellowships for the 2005/06 academic year include
students from across Canada as well as from China. Each candidate has
demonstrated a keen interest in the study of international governance.

The students are: