Biography
Ralph Thomas Scurfield was born in Broadview, Saskatchewan, on Jan. 7, 1928. His family moved to the small farming community of Ninga, Manitoba, where his father was the station master on the Canadian Pacific Railway line.
Scurfield attended the University of Manitoba, working his way through school by taking summer carpentry jobs. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1948, Ralph became an elementary school teacher. He taught in Manitoba for two years, before leaving to pursue his chosen trade of carpentry.
In 1951, lured by the booming Alberta economy, he moved to Edmonton, where he quickly found employment with McConnell Homes as a crew foreman. Scurfield’s employer, Ches McConnell, impressed with Ralph’s work ethic and university degree, asked Ralph to move to Calgary to manage a small, financially struggling house building company called Nu-West Homes. Ralph agreed, on the condition that he be allowed to buy in as a one-third partner.
After mortgaging his house to finance his partnership, in 1957, at the age of 29, he became president of Nu-West Homes. When he moved to Calgary, he found that Nu-West was in worse financial shape than he had been led to believe. Ralph went to work salvaging the reputation of the near bankrupt company by fixing previously built houses free of charge.
Under Scurfield’s direction, Nu-West Homes flourished, and Scurfield’s personal stature grew. In 1969, Nu-West went public, and the money raised was used to purchase land in and around the City of Edmonton. Nu-West continued to expand and was soon building homes and buildings across Canada and in parts of the United States.
As a result of Nu-West’s success, Scurfield’s advice was sought out by city planners, business, and political leaders. Scurfield was one of the founding members of Carma Ltd., a cooperative of independent builders who banded together to form a land development company to provide serviced lots to Calgary homebuilders. In 1963, he became president of the Calgary House Builder’s Association, and in 1969 became the president of the National House Builder’s Association of Canada.
Using his influence, Scurfield established national house building standards, and introduced the New Home Builder's Warranty Program, which continues to this day. He convinced his contemporary house building competitors that long term quality of life was more important than short-term profit.
Always defying the stereotype, Scurfield demonstrated that a land developer could also be an environmentalist. Recognizing that the natural beauty of the undisturbed Nose Hill added a distinctive and desirable quality of life to Calgary, in the mid-1970s, Ralph orchestrated a land swap between Nu-West, Carma Developers and the City of Calgary, allowing the city to gain ownership of the Nose Hill, which today is the largest city-owned natural park in North America, and part of Ralph’s lasting legacy to the City of Calgary and its citizens.
In addition to building homes, Ralph T. Scurfield contributions includes: the purchase of Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort located in Banff National Park in 1981. He was one of the founding owners of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames. He was also actively involved in the establishment of the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary, where Scurfield Hall is named in his honour.
On February 18, 1985, Scurfied and another person died in an avalanche while Heli-skiing in the Monashee Mountains near Blue River, British Columbia.
Biography
During two decades at the helm of Suncor Energy, Rick George oversaw the successful transformation of a small privately held oil sands company with a valuation of $1 billion, to Canada’s largest integrated energy company with a public valuation of over $50 billion.
He was named "Outstanding CEO of the Year" in 1999 and received the Canadian Business Leader Award in 2000.
Mr. George was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in December 2007 for his leadership in the development of Canada's natural resources sector, for his efforts to provide economic opportunities to Aboriginal communities, and for his commitment to sustainable development. In 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame.
In May 2013 Mr. George was elected as Chairman of the Board of Penn West Exploration. In 2012, Mr. George was elected to the Board of The Royal Bank of Canada and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. As well, he was selected by the Ivey School of Business to receive the 2012 Ivey Business Leader Award. Mr. George also recently published a book with HarperCollins Canada called, “Sun Rise: Suncor, the Oil Sands, and the Future of Energy”.
He served as Chairman of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives from 2003-2006 and was selected to serve as Chair of the Canadian contingent of the North American Competitiveness Council in 2008.
He was a member of the Calgary Committee to End Homelessness in 2007 and Chair of the 2008 Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference.
Originally from Brush, Colorado, Mr. George spent 10 years with Sun Company, primarily in the U.K., the last four of which were spent as managing director of Sun Oil Britain Limited. He moved from London, England to Canada in 1991.
Mr. George holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Colorado State University, a law degree from the University of Houston Law School and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.
He and his wife have three children. The entire family became Canadian citizens in 1996.
Biography
David Johnson holds a Bachelor of Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming and has over 35 years of diverse experience in the oil and gas industry, including a background in production, reservoir evaluation and operations.
David currently serves as a Director at Progress Energy Resourses and was previously Chairman of Progress Energy Resources Corp. prior to its sale in 2012. David has also held the positions of Executive Chairman of Progress Energy Trust and President and Chief Executive Officer of ProEx Energy Ltd. Prior to these positions, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Progress Energy Ltd. and prior thereto, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calgary based Encal Energy Ltd.
David is also a director of Zedi Inc. (an oilfield services company), Pinecrest Energy Inc. (an exploration and production company), and TORC Oil & Gas Ltd. (an exploration and production company). He is a member of the Association of Engineers, Geoscientists of Alberta and has served twice as a Governor of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
He has also been active in many community and charitable societies. He is a supporter of United Way of Calgary & Area. David personally donated $5 million to the Promising Futures Campaign to create the Trades and Technology Complex. In recognition for his donation, one of the buildings has been named after him – Johnson – Cobbe Energy Centre. David was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology where he graduated prior to attending the University of Wyoming.
Biography
Arthur Gordon Stollery (Gordon) was born on April 30, 1947, in New Liskeard, Ontario. He spent his early years in the neighboring town, Haileybury, Ontario. He attended Princeton University in New Jersey, graduating with a civil engineering degree in 1970, followed by a Master's of Science, Geology from the University of Toronto in 1972.
Gordon spent the majority of his career in Calgary, moving to Alberta in 1979 to practice geology and to work in the oil and gas business. Gordon started his first oil and gas company Morrison Petroleums Ltd in 1980, which merged with Northstar Energy in 1997 and then Northstar Energy was purchased by Devon Energy in 1998. Gordon founded Highpine Oil and Gas in 1998, which later merged with Daylight Energy. In 2011, Daylight Energy was purchased by Sinopec International Petroleum. In 2010, Gordon provided seed capital to start Clearview Resources, a dividend oriented oil and gas company based in Alberta. Throughout his career, Gordon was founder of, seed capital investor for, or director of many Alberta based companies including: Canada Fluorspar, In Depth Resources, Gridiron Drilling, Midfield Tubulars, The Purple Perk, Pacific Rodera Energy Ltd, Middlefield Bancorp, West Energy, Ballistic Energy, Storm Energy, Veritas Seismic Ltd, Boardwalk Properties Ltd, OGY Petroleum Ltd, Valiant Petroleum, Canadian Gas Gathering Systems Ltd, and AGS Energy.
Gordon continued his family's stewardship of Angus Glen Farm in Markham, Ontario, which bred thoroughbred horses that have won a number of stakes races in North America, most notably Talkin’ Man, Laurie’s Dancer and Kennedy Road. Recognizing the lucrative business opportunity in breeding horses, Gordon redirected the company to focus on breeding horses in Kentucky, where he successfully ran a breeding operation.
Gordon’s love of sports was ingrained in him early on. He was a passionate and dedicated golfer - a member of Rosedale Golf Club since 1961, winning their championship four times - in 1967 and 1972 through 1974, as well as runner up at the 1965 Canadian Junior Golf Championship. He played on the Princeton golf team and also played hockey for UTS and Princeton University.
His passion for golf led him to direct the development of Angus Glen Golf Club, which opened in 1995. Angus Glen was named the Best New Course in Canada by Golf Digest, and has hosted a number of prestigious golf tournaments, including the Canadian Open in 2002 and 2007, and will host the Pan Am Games in 2015. Gordon oversaw the development of the Angus Glen residential community, including the acquisition of the Kylemore Communities. In 2007, Gordon created Goodwood Golf Club in Uxbridge Ontario, an 18 hole course he enjoyed as his private sanctuary.
Gordon was an active and respected member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, and the Independent Petroleum Association of Canada. His contributions to the business community were recognized through awards acknowledging his activities in energy production, entrepreneurship, and management. To name a few the America Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1993 Oilweek Producer of the Year, 1992-1993 Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurship in Alberta, and the Wall Street Week Gold Award.
Gordon was passionate about Alberta and believed in giving back to the community through mentorship and through the support of other entrepreneurs. He gave generously to various causes both in Toronto and in Calgary, most recently to Markham Stouffville Hospital and the University of Toronto. Gordon also supported the Edge School, the Canada West Foundation, Alberta College of Art and Design, and the Sandy Cross Foundation. He loved the outdoors, and especially the Albertan topography and landscape; and for this reason he generously supported several Albertan artists over the years. Gordon felt very strongly about the Calgary Stampede and supporting the tradition. He was a proud sponsor of the chuckwagons at the Calgary Stampede under his leadership at Morrison Petroleums and Highpine Oil and Gas.
Gordon passed away suddenly while on vacation in the British Virgin Islands on December 12th, 2011. The Canadian business community as well as his robust group of friends and family will miss his brilliant mind, gregarious personality and his sense of adventure.