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A father and daughter with a passion for the beef industry have donated an entire working ranch — land, buildings, a 1,000-head herd of cattle and all — to the University of Calgary’s faculty of veterinary medicine.

In terms of monetary value, W.A. Ranches — which is northeast of Cochrane and valued at $44 million — is the largest gift of a ranch that has ever been made to a North American university. And, in terms of size, at nearly 7,700 hectares, it represents the biggest gift of ranch property in Canadian university history.

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“This is a transformational donation,” said University of Calgary president Elizabeth Cannon. “This provides a platform which is unique in Canada, if not in North America, and really will propel our faculty of veterinary medicine to the global stage.”

The donation was made by businessman and philanthropist J.C. (Jack) Anderson, 90, and his daughter Wynne Chisholm, 61. The two have operated W.A. Ranches since 2005, when Anderson — then 77 — decided to get back into the cattle industry after giving it up decades before to focus on his oil and gas interests.