Ron and Jane Graham donate more than $2 million to build new sport science and health facility at the U of S
SASKATOON – University of Saskatchewan (U of S) alumni and long-time donors Ron and Jane Graham have made a donation of $2,068,000 to establish and build a sport science and health facility within Merlis Belsher Place.
The new facility, which will be named the Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre, will serve to enhance the performance, conditioning, recovery and education of athletes. The facility will support research in injury prevention, nutrition and conditioning, and performance and recovery.
The Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre will also offer a range of physiological, biomechanical and psychological performance assessments and sport psychology coaching for student-athletes and athletes from across Saskatchewan.
“The needs of today’s athletes are much more complex in terms of their training, conditioning, recovery, injury prevention and rehabilitation,” said Chad London, dean of the College of Kinesiology. “The Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre will make our university a national leader on and off the training surface and will meet the modern and evolving needs of athletes.”
The Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre will feature adaptable, open spaces used by collaborative, interdisciplinary research teams. Additionally, student-athletes will have the opportunity to access integrated health care teams, led by sport performance experts and health care professionals to manage training, injury prevention and rehabilitation.
The new complex boasts features such as concussion evaluation space, blood and tissue collection space, rehabilitation equipment, private treatment rooms and open spaces for collaboration between practitioners and researchers, a three-storey sports engineering impact testing suite, motion capture technology and performance assessment equipment and technology.
In addition to Huskie student-athletes, the Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre will serve athletes from across the province and beyond.
“We are immensely grateful for Ron and Jane Graham’s enthusiasm for student learning, well-being and athletics at the U of S,” said University of Saskatchewan President and Vice-Chancellor Peter Stoicheff. “The Grahams’ history of generosity and support for a variety of significant initiatives campus-wide is unparalleled. Our university is fortunate to have Ron and Jane continuously champion projects that make a lasting difference for their alma mater and the community.”
“We’re excited about the University of Saskatchewan’s initiative to establish this important facility,” said Rob Kennedy, manager-provincial sport development for the Canadian Sport Centre Saskatchewan. “Quality facilities and services, such as the Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre can provide Saskatchewan athletes opportunities to reach their high-performance goals for national and international competition.”
“Jane and I are proud to help establish this brand new sport science and health centre,” said Ron Graham. “The collaborative work that will help researchers gain more insight is something we’re thrilled to support.”
“Through our commitment to Huskie athletes through the years, we understand the importance of long-term health and quick return-to-play for our student-athletes,” said Jane Graham. “We’re excited about the potential breakthroughs that can be uncovered by the research that will be done at this new facility.”
The Grahams are the largest cumulative alumni donors in U of S history, having given nearly $22 million to the university and its students through various initiatives and awards. Other notable projects the Grahams have contributed towards include the addition of practice basketball courts to Merlis Belsher Place, the expansion of the Graham Huskie Clubhouse at Griffiths Stadium and the establishment of the Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development in the College of Engineering.
The opening of the Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre is expected in early 2019. For more information on the facility, view the video https://youtu.be/VO72IozlkOM
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For more information, contact:
University Relations
University of Saskatchewan
306-966-1851