Ronald D. Southern
He lived an extraordinary life, building and accomplishing what very few can dream of.
Ronald D. Southern lived in Calgary all of his life but traveled the world extensively during his adult years. He was a proud Canadian and loved his Alberta roots.
While still in high school in 1947, Ronald, a self-described “child of commerce”, founded Alberta Trailer Hire with his father Samuel Donald. Starting with five people, the enterprise today – ATCO Group – has grown to more than 8000 employees worldwide.
Ronald was a self-made businessman who became a respected giant of Canadian commerce. His success included gas and electrical utility companies, midstream, drilling, pipelines, logistics, manufacturing, workforce housing sales, leasing, maintenance and operations.
ATCO Ltd. and Canadian Utilities Limited, which ATCO acquired and repatriated in 1980, have done business in more than 100 countries around the world.
In addition to acting as Chairman of the Board of ATCO, Canadian Utilities and Akita Drilling for decades, Ronald actively enjoyed his time on the Boards of Directors of a number of Canada’s most prestigious companies including: Canadian Pacific Limited, Chrysler Canada, Imasco, Lafarge Canada, Royal and Sun Alliance (RSA), Trimac, Pacific Western Airlines, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Canadian Airlines, Xerox Canada, Mercantile Bank, Canadian Export Development Corporation, Crown Zellerbach, and Fletcher Challenge.
In 2007 he was inducted into the Canadian Manufacturing Hall of Fame. In 1996 Ronald was recognized by the Financial Post as the CEO of the Year in Canada. In 1990 the University of Manitoba recognized him as the International Distinguished Entrepreneur and in 1986 the University of Alberta recognized Ron as the Businessman of the Year.
RD, as Ronald was known by all his friends, was awarded a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007 and honoured with the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2012.
Ronald D. Southern lived in Calgary all of his life but traveled the world extensively during his adult years. He was a proud Canadian and loved his Alberta roots.
While still in high school in 1947, Ronald, a self-described “child of commerce”, founded Alberta Trailer Hire with his father Samuel Donald. Starting with five people, the enterprise today – ATCO Group – has grown to more than 8000 employees worldwide.
Ronald was a self-made businessman who became a respected giant of Canadian commerce. His success included gas and electrical utility companies, midstream, drilling, pipelines, logistics, manufacturing, workforce housing sales, leasing, maintenance and operations.
ATCO Ltd. and Canadian Utilities Limited, which ATCO acquired and repatriated in 1980, have done business in more than 100 countries around the world.
In addition to acting as Chairman of the Board of ATCO, Canadian Utilities and Akita Drilling for decades, Ronald actively enjoyed his time on the Boards of Directors of a number of Canada’s most prestigious companies including: Canadian Pacific Limited, Chrysler Canada, Imasco, Lafarge Canada, Royal and Sun Alliance (RSA), Trimac, Pacific Western Airlines, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Canadian Airlines, Xerox Canada, Mercantile Bank, Canadian Export Development Corporation, Crown Zellerbach, and Fletcher Challenge.
In 2007 he was inducted into the Canadian Manufacturing Hall of Fame. In 1996 Ronald was recognized by the Financial Post as the CEO of the Year in Canada. In 1990 the University of Manitoba recognized him as the International Distinguished Entrepreneur and in 1986 the University of Alberta recognized Ron as the Businessman of the Year.
RD, as Ronald was known by all his friends, was awarded a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007 and honoured with the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2012.
Biography
John Dielwart is Founder, Director, and the former Chief Executive Officer of ARC Resources Ltd. which owns and operates oil and gas properties in Western Canada. He oversaw the growth of ARC Resources Ltd. from start-up in 1996 to a total capitalization of approximately $10 billion.
After his retirement from ARC Resources Ltd. on January 1, 2013, Mr. Dielwart re-joined ARC Financial Corp. as Vice-Chairman. ARC Financial Corp. is Canada’s leading energy focused private equity manager with over $4.0 billion of capital under management. Mr. Dielwart provides leadership support for the executive team in the areas of internal governance and investment decision-making. With his extensive background in creating, building and leading one of Canada’s most successful oil and gas companies, mentorship of ARC Financial employees as well as management of ARC’s investee companies is a primary responsibility. He is a member of ARC’s Investment and Strategy committees.
Prior to joining ARC Financial in 1994, Mr. Dielwart spent 12 years with a major Calgary based oil and natural gas engineering consulting firm, as senior vice-president and a director, where he gained extensive technical knowledge of oil and natural gas properties in western Canada. Mr. Dielwart also spent the first five years of his career with a multinational oil and gas company.
Mr. Dielwart has a Bachelor of Science with Distinction (Civil Engineering) degree from the University of Calgary (1977). He served two three year terms as a Governor of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) including 18 months (2002 to 2004) as Chairman. He is also a founding board member and current Board Co-Chair of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre.
Biography
As current Chairman of Bonavista Energy Corporation, Keith MacPhail is a leader in the oil and gas industry and an inspiration to the community. His extraordinary commitment to health, wellness and education is improving the lives of thousands of people in the Province.
Keith was born in Medicine Hat on March 3, 1957. He is the middle child in a family of seven children.
Keith worked various summer jobs in the field with Merland Explorations Ltd. before enrolling in the business program at Medicine Hat College from 1976-1978. In 1980, Keith attended SAIT Polytechnic and graduated in 1981 with a diploma in Petroleum Technology (with honors). He went on to pursue an engineering degree at Montana College of Mineral Science in 1982, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering (with honors) in 1984.
Before joining Bonavista in 1997, Keith held progressively senior positions with Poco Petroleums Ltd. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., culminating with Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Canadian Natural. Keith also chairs the board of NuVista Energy Ltd. and is a board member of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., a board of governor at SAIT, in addition to several private advisory boards.
In 2005, Keith and his wife Kathy made a gift of $10 million to SAIT – the largest individual donation ever made to a Canadian technical institute at the time. Keith then served as Chair of the first phase of the Promising Futures™ Campaign, which raised $75 million for the Trades and Technology Complex. The MacPhail School of Energy at SAIT Polytechnic is named in his honour.
Keith and Kathy also co-sponsored the Forzani and MacPhail Colon Cancer Screening Centre at the Foothills Hospital, funded the United Way Aboriginal Pride Program, and recently helped to fund the new Winsport Complex at Canada Olympic Park.
Additional accomplishments include recognition as one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 1997, selected one of Alberta’s most influential people by Alberta Ventures in 2006, recipient of an Honorary Degree from SAIT Polytechnic in 2012, and inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame in 2014.
Biography
Doug Ramsay, born in Edmonton, before the tender age of 7 had lived in various towns throughout Alberta before settling back in Brooks.
Doug began his career working on drilling and work over rigs throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan. He first went to work in the pressure pumping business for BJ Well Services in 1973. He returned to school to earn his Petroleum Engineering Technology Diploma from SAIT Polytechnic. He later received the designation of Registered Engineering Technologist from ASET.
Upon graduation from SAIT, Doug went to work for Dome Petroleum as a Drilling and Completions Foreman. Doug then joined Delta Consultants as a consulting engineer, where he was responsible for drilling, completions and production operations for a number of oil & gas companies. In 1981 at 26 years old, Doug joined Eagle Exploration as Manager of Drilling & Completion Operations from the Wichita, Kansas office where he handled drilling, completions and production operations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In addition, he was responsible for the management of the company owned drilling rig.
Doug joined American Fracmaster in Oklahoma where he held various sales and operations responsibilities transferring back to Canada in a Sales Manager role. He rose through the ranks to be appointed President in 1992 responsible for the company’s business at that time in Canada and Russia.
After a brief hiatus in the mid-1990’s when Doug built his family ranching and real estate business, Doug joined forces with Ron Mathison, Gordon Dibb and Robbie Roberts in 1999 to transform several distressed oilfield service firms to form Calfrac. Calfrac grew from a humble start up to a world class pressure pumping company today with operations in 6 countries, sales of over $2.5 billion and excess of 4,500 employees. Doug handed over the reigns as the CEO in January of 2013 to Fernando Aguilar – a seasoned service company professional. Doug now serves as the Vice Chairman of the corporation.
Doug and his wife, Susan, have not forgotten what is important to them and community with major contributions to STARS, by forming the Susan Ramsay Advanced Skills Institute and to SAIT, the Ramsay Centre for Petroleum Engineering. Most recently Doug and Susan made a major contribution to Foothills Country Hospice focused on the expansion of the facility to better service people in their last days.