Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/609048
30 simon FALL 2015 (LUM) TONIA COWAN E R RYAN BEEDIE As president of his family's industrial real estate development fi rm, Ryan Beedie is the largest landlord of commercial real estate in British Columbia, with assets north of $1 billion. And in 2011, the SFU alumnus also became our largest donor, with a $22-million donation to establish the Beedie School of Business. "What's great about our donation is that it's an investment in the future," says Ryan Beedie. "The endowment will be there for generations to come, to give students the SFU edu- cation that I was fortunate to have had and to enable the University to attract the best teachers and researchers." In fact, Beedie credits much of his success to his education. And that success is both professional and personal—SFU is also where he met his wife, Cindy Beedie, a philanthropist herself. (In 2012, she matched donations of $375,000 to the Powell Place women's shelter). Born and raised in Burnaby, B.C., Ryan Beedie earned a BBA from SFU in 1991, and offi cially joined his father's company, the Beedie Group, in 1993 after graduating from UBC with an MBA in real estate. By 2001 he was named president and, under his watch, the company grew to manage nearly eight million square feet of industrial space. This earned him a nod from Ernst & Young as the Pacifi c Region's Entrepreneur of the Year—in 2009, no less, when most companies were still suffering the effects of a global recession. Perhaps most impressive, Beedie has proven to be as passionate about philanthropy as he is about his own business. "We have done well as a company because the market's been there for us, and we'd be nowhere if it hadn't been," he told BCBusiness this year. "So if you've been so lucky to have had success, should you not reciprocate?" R Reaching new heights came naturally to high jumper Wilf Wedman, a second-year SFU student who com- peted at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and went on to become SFU's fi rst Rhodes Scholar in 1972. He returned to SFU in 2001 as director of recreational services and athletics, and that year organized SFU's fi rst annual Terry Fox Run. He used his political savvy to nurture unprecedented facilities growth, brokering a deal with the Vancouver Whitecaps to invest $3 million in two artifi cial turf fi elds, with lights. He also persuaded the SFU Board of Governors to build an $11-million fi tness centre and gym that opened in 2007. W The fi rst scientist to seek out and study the orangutan in Borneo's remote jungle more than 40 years ago, SFU archaeologist and primatologist Biruté Galdikas has been called the "ape angel." Considered the world's foremost expert on orangutans, she has been featured in National Geographic magazine and in an IMAX fi lm, "Born to Be Wild." Her ceaseless quest to conserve the endangered ape's habitat and care for and rehabilitate orphan orangutans has earned her numerous awards, including Indonesia's prestigious Hero of the Earth Award for environmental leadership and an Offi cer of the Order of Canada award. JONATHAN RHYS KESSELMAN The next time you make a deposit to your tax-free savings account, spare a thought for SFU profes- sor Jonathan Rhys Kesselman. He and a co- researcher fl oated the idea in 2001 in a research paper published at the C.D. Howe Institute and in the Canadian Tax Journal. It laid the foundation for 2009 federal legislation enacting what is widely acknowledged as the most signifi - cant advancement in Canada's tax treatment of savings since RRSPs were introduced in the 1950s. Kesselman, a Canada Research Chair in Public Finance, teaches in SFU's School of Public Policy. He is a frequent commentator on public fi nance and taxation. B. MARIO PINTO After 10 years furthering SFU's position on the world research stage, chemist B. Mario Pinto, former SFU vice-president of research, is now shaping the future direction of scientifi c research in Canada as president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. A pioneer in the fi eld of chemical biology and an internationally renowned researcher in the fi eld of drug and vaccine design, Pinto played a key role in expanding SFU's long-term commitment to national and international linkages in research, technology and education. An avid teacher, he has also mentored hundreds of undergrads, grad students and postdoctoral fellows around the world. R