$10 million donation from Pat and Mike Petryk renames dental school

The University of Alberta has named their dental school after a prominent graduate whose family donated a historic $10 million to the department.

The dental school will now be called the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry, U of A president and vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan announced at a news conference. He said the funding will go towards creating an endowment to enhance dentistry activities and initiatives at the University of Alberta.

“This generous investment will help the University of Alberta prepare future generations of dental providers to meet the growing needs of our communities,” Flanagan said. “Your donation will help serve all Albertans from all backgrounds.”

A graduate of the University of Alberta’s dentistry school class of 1960, Mike Petryk, and his wife, Pat Petryk, who graduated with an education degree from the university, have toyed with the idea of donating a scholarship to the university for a number of years.

Along with the help of their son and daughter, they decided to donate $10 million to the dental school in hopes of paving the way for future students.

Petryk grew up in rural Grassland, about 180 km northeast of Edmonton. Growing up on a farm, he was told by his parents that education was the best way to improve his life.

He would travel on horseback during all seasons to get to a one-room schoolhouse. But with no money to go to university, Petryk enlisted in the military with the hopes that they would pay for education.

They did.

After graduating in 1960, Petryk opened a new clinic in Calgary and worked as a dentist for 40 years before retiring at 69.