Alberta family donates $10M to U of A school of dentistry to 'give back'

From left to right, University of Alberta president Bill Flanagan, Bob Petryk, Mike Petryk, Pat Petryk, and Susan Petryk pose for a photo on Sept. 10, 2024, after the official renaming of the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry. (Matt Marshall / CTV News Edmonton)

The University of Alberta has renamed its school of dentistry after an Alberta family who donated $10 million to its research and future students.

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The donation was made by U of A alumni Mike and Pat Petryk and their kids, Susan Petryk and Bob Petryk.

All four were in Edmonton for a celebration on Tuesday and the official unveiling of the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry.

Born on a farm in Grassland, Alta., to immigrant Ukrainian parents, Mike worked as a dentist for 46 years while his wife led the founding of their real estate business, Petwin Properties, in Calgary where they settled.

While Susan pursued a career as a pediatric physician and Bob a career in law before taking over Petwin Properties, both on Tuesday credited their parents for inspiring their careers and the sizable endowment.

"Dentistry has been good to me and our family and now I am pleased to take part in this opportunity to give back something to dentistry," Mike told the crowd.

"We always, in the back of the mind, said we wanted to give something back. Our kids said, 'You do it. We don't need the inheritance,'" Pat explained.

The pair have been married for 65 years, having met at CFB Cold Lake when she was still a teacher. Both were the first in their families to attend university. They retired in 1999.

Mike called the school's renaming a great honour and unbelievable to his former farm boy self.

"It's been my mother who never misses an opportunity to tell everyone about her kids and her grandkids. Well, now it's our turn to express how proud we are of both of you," Susan told her parents.

"It has been through the combination of my dad's dedication to dentistry, my mom's vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, and my brother Bob's expansive vision that our family has the great honour of giving this gift and associating my dad's name with this very esteemed institution."

Recalling his father teaching him how to brush his teeth, Bob added, "(Dad) never skipped a day, he never forgot and he never cut it short... And that was the way he approached dentistry."

He said of his mom, "I remember playing under her feet while she traded bonds and stocks, signed purchase agreements, did real estate financings, and in a day when nobody did that kind of thing. But she just has this attitude that if somebody can do it, how hard can it be?"

The Petryks' donation will help cover the cost of the school's pro bono work in underserved populations, fund graduate student stipends, support undergrads in need, and fund faculty research projects.

"It will advance the school towards an even brighter future. Through your thoughtfulness and dedication to this institution, you're making an immediate and direct impact on the lives of so many students and staff and the patients that we all serve," said Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn, the school's medicine and dentistry dean.