Prominent Toronto business person George Dembroski has surprised the Edwards School of Business this week, announcing that he has graciously shelled-out a $1 million donation.

Curiously, Dembroski shares no connection to the University besides previously being on the board of directors for Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp.. Throughout his career, Dembroski has sat as a board member for many large corporations, including Murphy Oil Corp., Rosetta Exploration Inc. and RBC Dominion.

“I wanted to recognize the vitality of the Saskatchewan business community by investing in local education,” Dembroski said in a news release.

He also mentioned to the Star Phoenix that by giving money to the University of Saskatchewan, the donation actually has a chance of making a difference. Whereas, injecting funds into at a school such as his alma mater — the University of Western Ontario — would essentially go unnoticed, or as he put it, it would be only “a drop in the bucket.”

Of the $1 million, $300, 000 will be used to set up a trust in his name that will allow ESB students to manage an investment portfolio using real money. This advancement will bring the U of S Edwards School up-to-par with many other business schools around Canada, which already offer courses teaching students using legitimate funds.

The rest of the donation will be used for scholarships, data sets for financial research and the addition of a virtual trading floor.

Starting in the fall semester, two new investment portfolio courses will be launched, available to a select group of third and fourth year business students.