Dr. Jian Liu: Battery research that is charging ahead
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As UBC embarks on the most ambitious fundraising and alumni engagement campaign in the university’s history, Heather McCaw, Vice-President, Development and Alumni Engagement, explains what the campaign is all about, why it is important, and what it means for the university and the community.
It’s a fundraising and alumni engagement campaign that will, with the support of donors and alumni, help UBC solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as climate change, health care and social justice. The campaign will benefit research and learning and help address student affordability across both campuses. Our aim is to raise $3 billion and double alumni engagement.
But the true potential of this campaign is to help advance healthy lives, a healthy planet and healthy society—and our three themes capture the ways we can address these urgent issues:
Advancing Healthy Lives: Today, there are more people alive on our planet than ever before—and they are living longer than at any time in human history. Our goal is to help reduce the time it takes to turn research into results, and ensure more equitable access to healthcare and healthier outcomes across the generations.
Creating Solutions for the Planet: Sustainability touches every aspect of our living world and impacts environmental, social, and economic health around the globe. Our goal under this theme is to help expand our “green innovation” efforts to respond to the climate emergency and deliver new solutions for the future.
Shaping Thriving Societies: A thriving society is grounded in compassion and empathy, strengthened by diversity and inclusion, and fueled by creativity and community outreach. Our goal is to develop new knowledge and cultural collaborations that provide equal opportunities to everyone.
You can learn more about the campaign themes and ongoing work here: forward.ubc.ca.
The world is facing a number of challenges that need to be addressed with a sense of urgency.
Universities have a responsibility to move the world forward by addressing the immediate issues facing our societies while focusing on creating the knowledge required for a better world. As one of the world’s leading universities, UBC continues to play a crucial role in responding to these key issues. This campaign is one of the many steps being taken to help us overcome the challenges the world faces together.
It is imperative that we do as much as we can, as quickly as we can, to address these challenges, particularly in the areas where we have research strength and international reputation—such as health, sustainability and social justice. Keeping this in mind, fundraising and partnering with the community have become more important than ever before, and that is why the campaign has been launched now—to take action when it is most required.
Donor support can often help leverage additional sources of funding from other partners. We are able to accomplish so much more when we work together with our public and private partners. Donor funding enables us to focus on new priorities, as well as enhance existing priorities. It helps UBC deliver on its purpose of pursuing excellence in research, learning and engagement—and inspiring people, ideas and action for a better world.
There are a number of ways in which the UBC community can get involved, for instance, by giving, volunteering, engaging in the content shared online, attending events and much more. UBC’s future lies in collective action, and our community as well as alumni will play a crucial role in this campaign.
Faculty, staff and students are at the core of our work. The efforts being taken today will support the community, and the world, as a whole tomorrow.
With the help of this campaign, we can make greater advances in the areas of health care, climate solutions and thriving societies. The campaign will inspire significant contributions from alumni and other supporters, whose belief in UBC’s ability to shape a better future I hope will inspire pride in the work being done here. UBC does amazing work, and there are many people beyond the university campuses who believe in our ability to change the world.
I encourage all community members to learn more about this campaign.
Find out more:
Together, we can move the world forward