Fleming College celebrates Parnham family’s $1M donation
Last summer, Fleming College’s Frost Campus and the Resources Drilling and Blasting program received a $1 million donation from Duane Parnham and his family, which is the largest donation ever by a college alumnus to an Ontario community college and the largest alumni donation in Fleming College’s history. The Parnham family’s donation to the School of Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences, which is based in Lindsay, Ont., helped purchase two blast hole drills, a mobile drill, and significant upgrades and enhancements to the training centre. The donation will also be used to establish a $200, 000 endowed fund to provide financial assistance for Frost Campus students.
“Fleming College has provided me with many of the skills I’ve used to succeed,” said Duane Parnham, who graduated from Fleming’s Mineral Engineering Technology program in 1985. “I am very pleased to support an educational institution focused on providing world-class technical skills to the next generation of mining professionals.”
After graduating from Fleming, Parnham went on to launch a successful career developing exploration companies from formation to fully permitted resources. He has worked internationally with governments and landowners to identify substantial projects, and provided the capital and managerial resources necessary to create value for investors. Duane has founded and developed multiple resource-focused companies, including Giyani Gold Corp., Forsys Metals Corp., UNX Energy Corp., Angus Mining Namibia Inc., and Temex Resources Corp. Duane also has experience in corporate governance, stakeholder relations and raising capital for resource-focused projects.
On June 25, 2012, Fleming College hosted a celebration at the Frost Campus to unveil The Parnham Training Centre. The Centre will be used to train students in the Resources Drilling and Blasting, and Blasting Techniques programs.
“This gift is a tremendous statement by an accomplished graduate,” said Fleming College President Dr. Tony Tilly. “It expresses appreciation for the College, a belief in our students and a commitment to ensuring that Fleming students are trained using state-of-the-art resources.”
The event held in honour of the Parnham family’s donation featured speeches, a Rube Goldberg demonstration and a musical performance by Fleming staff.
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