The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design has received a $6 million donation from the John and Myrna Daniels Foundation that will be used to provide financial support to its undergraduate and graduate architecture students. The donation establishes the John and Myrna Daniels Foundation Opportunity Award, which will be awarded to students based on academic merit and financial need.
According to Dale Duncan, the Daniels faculty’s Senior Communications & Media Relations Officer, $2 million of the endowed fund is reserved for undergraduate students, while the remaining $4 million may be used to support both undergraduate and graduate students. U of T will match the annual payout of the donation, hence doubling its impact. “In time, this will provide close to $500,000 in student financial assistance every year,” said Duncan.
Like other endowed award funds at U of T, this contribution is established in perpetuity in order to preserve its value over time, accounting for inflation. As a result, the capital from the donation will be invested by the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation.
The award is the second that John and Myrna Daniels have created for the faculty, following the John and Myrna Daniels Scholars Award, which was created in 2008 from a $5 million donation. The Scholars Award, targeted exclusively to graduate students, has provided financial aid to 81 master’s students. According to Duncan, many of the awards established at the faculty have historically been directed solely to graduate students because the faculty did not offer undergraduate programs from 1998–2012.
“With our undergraduate programs attracting large numbers of students, the Faculty is very appreciative of those donors who now wish to support the undergraduate student community with their educational costs,” wrote Duncan.
U of T phased out undergraduate programs from Daniels in 1998, moving the undergraduate major in Architectural Studies to the Faculty of Arts & Science. In 2012, the architecture faculty reintroduced the undergraduate program. It now has two undergraduate programs and seven graduate programs.
As of November 2017, the Daniels faculty had 1,046 undergraduate students and 396 graduate students. Like students in the Faculty of Arts & Science, tuition for domestic undergraduates is $6,590; international undergraduate tuition is $45,690. Domestic tuition for master’s studies in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design is $12,070; international tuition is $41,840. Tuition for master’s studies in Visual Studies is $8,860 for domestic students and $31,150 for international students.
This latest donation brings the John and Myrna Daniels’ support of the faculty to $30 million. The John and Myrna Daniels had previously provided $14 million in 2008 to create the Scholars Award and provide capital support to the faculty. In 2013, they provided $10 million to support the revitalization of One Spadina Crescent, where the faculty is currently located.
“The Daniels Faculty is tremendously honoured to have received three gifts over the past decade,” wrote Duncan.
John Daniels graduated from U of T in 1950 with a Bachelor’s of Architecture. “He received financial support in the form of an award during his time at U of T,” said Duncan. “He has noted that the support he received as a student helped make it possible for him to complete his studies and pursue a very productive and rewarding career.”
