On Sept. 30, 2014, Canadian diamond pioneer Charles Fipke donated $9.1 million for Alzheimer’s research at the University of British Columbia.

Fipke gave $3 million to endow a professorship dedicated to Alzheimer’s research, and $600,000 was pledged to outfit the professor’s lab with cutting-edge equipment at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, a partnership between the UBC Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health. He also committed $5.5 million to support the purchase of the most novel and coveted brain imaging technology.

Fipke, from Kelowna, was moved to make the gifts by the plight of his longtime friend, Bill Bennett, the former Premier of British Columbia, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. His son Brad expressed the Bennett family’s gratitude at a ceremony today honouring Fipke’s philanthropy to UBC.