UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
USask Engineering student team garage named in honour of Jonathan and Chennene Wright

When Jonathan Wright (BEng'86, MSc'89) graduated nearly 40 years ago from USask's College of Engineering, he made a pledge to give back to his alma mater for the next five years. 

From left: Max Kazuska, USask College of Engineering Student; Chennene Wright, Donor; Jonathan Wright Donor; Dr. Michael Bradley, Dean, College of Engineering; Peter Stoicheff, USask President and Vice-Chancellor. (Photo: David Stobbe)

"The Engineering Advancement Trust had just launched, and the college was encouraging engineering grads to remain connected to the college and to give back," said Wright. "So, there was some positive peer pressure and most of us signed up." 

Wright went on to build a successful career in the oil and gas industry, holding various roles with Shell Canada Ltd., before joining Talisman Energy as a senior vice-president, and then being appointed president and CEO of NuVista Energy Ltd., in 2011. During that time, he and his family spent five years in Scotland and Malaysia as he accepted opportunities overseas. 

While he didn't begin his career looking to be a CEO, Wright does credit his education for preparing him to travel on that path.  

"Being an engineering student was hard work; there's no doubt about that," he said. "But it taught you how to prioritize, work really hard, and value teamwork. I don't think many people made it through engineering without working together." 

Some of the strongest memories for Wright are the lifelong friendships he developed with fellow students, and then as a grad student at USask, the respect he had for 

his thesis project supervisors, Professors Emeriti Dr. Richard Burton (PhD), Dr. Greg Schoenau (PhD) and the late Dr. Robert Besant (PhD). 

"When I made the transition from undergraduate to grad student, I still expected to be treated as a student, even though I was teaching labs and marking undergrad assignments," Wright said. "But then I began to be invited regularly by Professor Burton and Professor Schoenau to go into the faculty lounge to go over my thesis progress and it was such a welcoming feeling a real honour." 

Chennene Wright (BA'86, ARTS'88) graduated from the USask College of Arts and Science with a degree in psychology and later an honours degree. She went on to build a 35-year career as a dedicated social worker and mental health therapist, holding roles in corrections, child protection, and family and adolescent counselling across Canada and internationally. She earned her Master of Social Work and worked with Alberta Health Services before retiring in 2023.  

Together, Jonathan and Chennene marked their retirement with a generous donation to the College of Engineering.  

"When the university kicked off their $500 million campaign I honestly didn't think there was a chance of that much money being raised in Saskatchewan, but I was inspired," said Wright. "Chennene and I knew that this was an important campaign for the university and decided to step up."  

Inspired by the Wrights' gift, and in recognition of Jonathan's tenure as CEO of NuVista Energy Ltd., the company and some of its founding board members, including Keith McPhail, Ron Poelzer (BComm'83), and Grant Zawalsky, individually provided matching donations to have a space in the future Engineering Design Hub at USask named in honour of Jonathan and Chennene. 

"I was blown away," said Wright. "I never expected it. It was such a meaningful thing for them to do, and I literally had tears when I learned the news. It still gets me choked up just thinking about it." 

Dr. Michael Bradley (PhD), dean of the USask College of Engineering, was also touched by the generosity of all the donors who contributed to the space. 

"We are deeply grateful to Jonathan and Chennene Wright, NuVista and partnering donors for their extraordinary gift to USask Engineering," Bradley said. "Their generosity is more than a contribution. It is an investment in our students, our community and the future of engineering." 

"With their support, we are taking important steps towards transforming the Hardy Lab into the Engineering Design Hub. Once complete, this state-of-the-art space will be the largest hands-on engineering laboratory of its kind at a Canadian university and the heart of our college. The Wrights are helping to create a home where ideas are tested, friendships are forged and students can explore the limits of innovation." 

"We need to keep supporting the next generation of engineers through great education and fueling the science and engineering industries that will be so important for the world moving forward." 

Jonathan Wright

Max Kazuska, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at USask, said the garage space will give current and future students the opportunity to grow beyond the classroom. 

"This new shop space will be more than just a room for design teams to build their projects. It will be a hub for collaboration, innovation, and hands-on learning," said Kazuska, past president of the Sled Dogs Quarter-Scale Scale Tractor Team. "This donation empowers our teams to turn bold ideas into reality, shaping the future of engineering at USask." 

Wright will forever be grateful that his and Chennene's donation snowballed into something bigger than they could have ever imagined, and that the contributing donors recognized the importance of investing in the college to keep driving science and engineering forward. 

"If you want an institution to thrive and continue to grow, you have to continually feed funding and energy into it," he said. "We need to keep supporting the next generation of engineers through great education and fueling the science and engineering industries that will be so important for the world moving forward."