University of Manitoba engineering faculty named after Gerry and Barb Price
March 12, 2020
By CCE
Photo credit: University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba’s faculty of engineering has a new name, following a recent $20 million donation from Gerry and Barb Price. Going forward, in recognition of their generosity, it will be known as the Price Faculty of Engineering.
Gerry is chair and CEO of Winnipeg-based Price Industries, which provides air distribution equipment and noise control products for the commercial HVAC industry. Founded in 1946 by his father, Ernest H. Price, the company began as a manufacturer’s agent for Hart & Cooley, Farr and Maid-o-Mist, as well as its own line of fill and vent caps for oil furnaces.
As Price Industries expanded, Gerry studied mechanical engineering (at University of Manitoba and elsewhere), joined the company in 1977 and gained total control of it in 1987. He went on to grow it from 250 employees to more than 3,500 today, with 19 sales offices and 13 manufacturing sites across North America.
The Prices’ latest donation to the university will create seven endowed faculty member positions over 10 years for its undergraduate engineering program. Their previous gifts expanded the faculty’s facilities with the Price Engineering Innovation and Prototype Centre and established bursaries for Indigenous students and scholarships to encourage women to enter the field.
