UBC’s Vancouver School of Economics will be home to Canada’s first Stone Centre on Wealth and Income Inequality, one of 11 such centres around the world focused on research, teaching and knowledge mobilization around wealth inequality. The creation and operation of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre on Wealth and Income Inequality at UBC is made possible thanks to a generous $5.4M gift from the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation.

The Stone Foundation has made significant investments worldwide in the study and mitigation of wealth inequality, with emphasis on the causes and consequences of wealth accumulating at the top. This latest investment places UBC among an esteemed cohort of leading global institutions—including Harvard University, Brown University, and University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon, UBC president and vice-chancellor

“We are pleased to be the home of the first Stone Centre in Canada, and to be among the distinguished group of institutions partnering with the Foundation,” said Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon, UBC president and vice-chancellor. “I look forward to seeing the incredible impact that research and teaching will have at the Stone Centre on Wealth and Income Inequality. We are grateful for the Stone Foundation’s support as we work to shape thriving societies and foster a more just and equitable future for all.”

Under the leadership of world-renowned labour economists Dr. Thomas Lemieux, Dr. Nicole Fortin, and Dr. David Green, the Stone Centre at UBC will facilitate the collaboration of local and global researchers studying wealth and income inequality. The Centre will provide funding to advance cutting-edge research through multiple avenues such as fellowships and grants, host speakers and prominent experts in the field, and develop new datasets in collaboration with Statistics Canada to study patterns of wealth and income inequality across the country.

Thomas Lemieux, Stone Centre director and professor at the VSE

“The growing concentration of income and wealth poses a central challenge to countries like Canada that strive to grow their economies in a just and equitable way,” said Dr. Lemieux, Stone Centre director and professor at the Vancouver School of Economics. “Joined in partnership with a generous gift from the Stone Foundation, we are establishing a new research hub at UBC to help advance our knowledge of the causes and consequences of growing inequality in Canada and abroad. Here, we will train the next generation of scholars by moving economic inequality to the forefront of their graduate education in economics.”

James M. Stone and Cathleen D. Stone, Chairman and President of the Stone Foundation

“Accelerating wealth inequality represents a threat to the future of our societies. Cathy and I are committed to funding scholarship on the causes and consequences of extreme inequality,” said James M. Stone. “UBC’s rich, interdisciplinary research and demonstrated commitment to this research area were key drivers in our selection of the Vancouver School of Economics for a center. We look forward to supporting the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre for Wealth and Income Inequality over the coming years.”

This gift is part of FORWARD, the campaign for UBC with the promise and potential to advance healthy lives, a healthy planet and healthy societies. To learn more about the Stone Centre, as well as keep up to date on its latest developments, visit stonecentre.economics.ubc.ca.

For more information, please contact: Peter Osnes, Manager of Communications, Vancouver School of Economics, peter.osnes@ubc.ca.

About the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation

Founded by James and Cathleen Stone, the mission of The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation is to promote a more knowledgeable and inclusive society, with a special emphasis on environmental sustainability and the mitigation of wealth inequality. The Stone Foundation has made a significant investment in the study of wealth inequality, with emphasis on the causes and consequences of increasing accumulation at the top of the wealth distribution. The Foundation has funded wealth inequality projects at 11 institutions, including Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Harvard Kennedy School, Brown University, INSEAD, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, University College London, and University of Michigan.