For UBC alum Mike Jacobs, university was about more than what he learned in the classroom. Experiences both inside and outside the classroom shaped his time at UBC, his future, and, four decades later, how he and his wife, Kim, give back to their community.

Originally from Hope, BC, Mike graduated from UBC in 1985 with a degree in civil engineering. He went on to complete a master’s in construction management at Stanford University before settling in Kelowna and joining Emil Anderson Construction, a company founded by his great-grandfather, and where he now serves as Chair and fourth-generation leader of the Emil Anderson Group. The Okanagan is also where he met Kim, raised a family and became deeply connected to the community.

Today, Mike is grateful for the foundation UBC gave him for a successful career. His tie to the university deepened when his family established a memorial walkway in the new Engineering, Management and Education building at the Okanagan campus to honour his late brother and sister, who were also UBC graduates.

“My time at UBC helped set me up for a successful career,” says Mike. “When the School of Engineering was taking shape here in the Okanagan, we saw an opportunity to become involved and help create similar opportunities for students in this region.”

Since then, Mike and Kim have established the Jacobs Family Bursary in Engineering, helping ease financial barriers for students, and have supported the School’s Strong Wall Lab, specialized infrastructure that enables researchers to test full-scale structural components under extreme forces like earthquakes and structural strain.

Mike has also helped many students make the transition from the classroom to the workplace. Since UBC Okanagan’s first engineering class graduated in 2010, Emil Anderson Group has welcomed up to 60 students through co-op placements and hired more than 30 graduates into long-term roles, with UBC Okanagan alumni now represented in senior leadership.

“There are a lot of smart, capable students coming through UBC Okanagan, many with roots in smaller communities throughout the Interior,” he says. “Co-op gives students real experience, but it also gives employers like us a chance to find great people and show them the opportunities that exist here.”

More recently, Mike and Kim have expanded their support to another part of university life that has long been important to their family—sports and recreation.

As sports parents, they spent many hours in the UBC Okanagan gymnasium for volleyball and basketball tournaments and while their children participated in Jr. Heat programs. For Mike, it also brought back memories of playing competitive and intramural basketball and how important these experiences were to him and his peers.

So, when Mike learned that approximately 1,400 UBC Okanagan students per year were turned away from intramurals because there wasn’t enough gym space, he knew it was a serious problem.

“That number really got me,” Mike says. “I am a believer in ‘strong mind, strong body,’ and students need an outlet. I know from my own experience how important sport can be for your physical health, your social life, and just having some balance while you’re at university.”

At the time, plans and funding from the UBC Okanagan Students Union, UBC and the City of Kelowna were in place for a new two-court facility, with the opportunity for donors to help expand it to three courts.

That’s when Mike’s instincts as an engineer and builder kicked in.

“I looked at the numbers and thought, if we can build almost 50 per cent more recreation space for only 25 to 30 per cent more funding, why wouldn’t we do it? If we’re building something students and the community are going to use for decades, let’s build what they actually need.”

Mike and Kim became early donors to the project, and Mike championed the opportunity within the community, inspiring several others to join them.

“The Jacobs understood that this was an opportunity to think beyond what we could build today to what our students and community will need for the future,” says Lesley Cormack, Principal and Deputy-Vice Chancellor of UBC Okanagan. “Their support and leadership helped us pursue that bigger vision, and we are incredibly grateful for the confidence they continue to place in UBC Okanagan.”

As fundraising continues to complete and enhance the three-court facility, Mike and Kim’s generosity reflects a commitment to the whole student experience—creating opportunities for students to pursue their education, prepare for their futures and find the connection and balance that can help them thrive along the way.