Alvin Libin
Chair, Alberta Ingenuity Fund

Alvin Libin is not a man who minds repeating himself. When he chaired the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, he helped the organization's $300-million endowment grow to $1 billion during his ten-year reign. Libin, 74, left that foundation in 2000 only to jump sprightly into the chairmanship of the Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AIF), created to spawn science and engineering research in the province. Libin, inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence last fall, hopes to duplicate the medical research fund's astounding success; it has so far attracted more than 400 of the world's best medical minds to Alberta. Libin says the AIF is well on its way to doing the same in the broader science and engineering fields. And by 2006, it may have double the money to bait the brains. Last March the Klein government pledged to increase the AIF's endowment by $500 million to $1 billion. Libin's clout with government isn't hurt by the fact that he has led by example when it comes to donating to projects that enhance Alberta's international educational, medical and scientific stature. Through the Libins' own foundation, he and his wife Mona have made large donations to many Alberta organizations and institutions over the years, including a record $15 million in 2003 to the Calgary Health Region to establish the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta. An officer of the Order of Canada, the Calgary-born entrepreneur made his fortune in oil and gas, hotels, real-estate and financing. Libin is CEO of Balmon Investments and co-owner of the Calgary Flames. - AD

Increasingly, corporations are sponsoring university-based research labs, prompting critics to argue that reseach priorities could shift from ground-breaking research to product development. Is there a place for corporate dollars in the halls of academia?
Absolutely. Corporate dollars help ground-breaking research get off the bench to become commercial. That can foster further research and that helps to serve the research community and the province.

Who do you think is the greatest Albertan ever?
Hmmm. Maybe Jerome Iginla. Or Peter Lougheed would be fine.

In 100 years, will you warrant your own chapter in the history books, a footnote to great events or a single Google hit?
More likely none of those. I don't think I've done anything that will warrant mention 100 years from now.