Mike Lazaridis Donates Additional $50 Million to Perimeter Institute

WATERLOO, ONTARIO, Jun 06 (MARKET WIRE) --
In a new and generous act of personal philanthropy, Mike Lazaridis has
provided an additional $50 million (Canadian) to Perimeter Institute for
Theoretical Physics (PI). This private donation increases his personal
contributions to $150 million in the independent research institute,
located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The private funding announcement, delivered by The Honourable John
Wilkinson, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation, was celebrated by
over 600 people just prior to a PI Public Lecture. The donation was
acknowledged by all dignitaries representing the Province of Ontario and
the Government of Canada, important members of a public-private
partnership that fund the scientific research and outreach operations.

Dr. Neil Turok, the incoming Executive Director of Perimeter Institute,
said, "Mike Lazaridis and his colleagues, and the Governments of Canada
and Ontario, have shown exemplary vision in creating the Perimeter
Institute. More than any other field, theoretical physics epitomizes the
power of mathematical thinking to understand and predict the natural
world. PI's brave mission, to stimulate the next great breakthrough, will
attract brilliant students and leading researchers from the world over to
Waterloo, encouraging ambitious, innovative approaches. The outcome
cannot be predicted with certainty. But the journey will be exciting,
with many positive spinoffs. And success will be priceless."

Speaking at the event on Wednesday evening on behalf of the Government of
Ontario, The Honourable John Wilkinson, Minister of Research and
Innovation said: "Ontario's $3B Innovation Agenda focuses on our
government acting as a catalyst to support our top researchers and
entrepreneurs - extraordinary people like Mike Lazaridis who are leading
the way to turn groundbreaking ideas and innovation into Ontario's next
generation of jobs. Ontario's commitment to fundamental and applied
research has not only been informed but also inspired by Mike's personal
commitment to innovation, and his contributions to the Perimeter
Institute. That's why our government has already invested over $65M to
support this important initiative. This new investment will strengthen
the Institute and the government-industry partnerships that have made it
possible, and help us to continue to attract the world-class talent and
the scientific knowledge Ontario needs to compete in the 21st century."

On behalf of the Government of Canada, The Honourable Jim Prentice,
Minister of Industry, provided these words, "Mr. Lazaridis is one of
Canada's most significant science and technology (S&T) leaders and is
making an extraordinary contribution to further strengthen our country's
S&T capacity. His personal commitment to the Perimeter Institute has
enabled Canada to attract the best researchers in the field of
theoretical physics. The recent nomination of Mr. Neil Turok as the new
Executive Director of the Institute is one of many examples of this
success. The Government of Canada is an important partner in the
development of the Perimeter Institute, having renewed public funding in
March 2007 to further propel the scientific research and outreach
activities at international levels. In keeping with the government's S&T
strategy, the Perimeter Institute continues to provide the country with a
competitive advantage in the area of basic research, pushes the frontiers
of knowledge, attracts highly qualified researchers, promotes the
nation's world class excellence abroad, and shares the joys of scientific
research, discovery and technologies with Canadians from coast to coast.
Perimeter Institute is highly regarded as an international focal point
for scientific inquiry, and the Government of Canada has been very
pleased to be a partner and help accelerate the pace of research and
outreach activities of this organization through its contribution of $50
million (See March 2007 Announcement). The vision and role of Mike
Lazaridis in the partnership have been central, including his advocacy on
behalf of basic research and education, his leadership at the Institute,
and overwhelming financial support that now totals $150 million in
personal philanthropy. On behalf of the Government of Canada, it is a
pleasure to acknowledge Mike's steadfast commitment, contributions, and
to reaffirm our belief in a partnership that is successfully positioning
Canada with the highly qualified researchers and the scientific knowledge
we need to compete in the competitive world of ideas and innovation."

Mike Lazaridis, the founder and Chairman of the Board of Perimeter
Institute, thanked all national, provincial, regional and municipal
partners for their commitment to scientific research and their direct
role in shaping the institute. He also acknowledged those in wider
society who engage in the outreach activities. Among many comments and
conversations that evening, he said, "Though Perimeter Institute began as
my dream, it exists because of a shared commitment by all of the
partners. Partners who know that today's scientific research will seed
tomorrow's biggest innovations. The power of human understanding and new
ideas has a long and proven history in transforming society - such as
Maxwell's unification of electricity and magnetism, and Einstein's
insights about the nature of space, time, and light. Today's scientists
are pushing our fundamental understanding even further. They are working
on the most challenging problems we have ever known and they are
calculating new solutions that, over time, will improve our society -
intellectually, materially, and by stimulating future generations of
researchers to dig even deeper. These are exciting times in science and
we have the good fortune to propel new ideas right here in Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada. It is an important mission I feel passionate about and
wish to support. Finally, all of us at Perimeter wish to thank you - the
students, teachers and members of the general public. Your enthusiasm for
science provides constant motivation to our researchers, outreach staff,
and the partnership. Collectively, we all share in the grand quest to
research, discover, and innovate."

About Perimeter Institute

Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent,
non-profit, scientific research and educational outreach organization
where international scientists cluster to push the limits of our
understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very
essence of space, time, matter and information. The award-winning
research centre provides a multi-disciplinary environment to foster
research in areas of Cosmology, Particle Physics, Quantum Foundations,
Quantum Gravity, Quantum Information, Superstring Theory, and related
areas. The Institute also provides a wide array of educational outreach
activities for students, teachers and members of the general public in
order to share the joy of scientific research, discovery and innovation.
In partnership with the Governments of Canada and Ontario, Perimeter
Institute continues to be a successful example of private and public
collaboration in science research and education.

For a Picture of Mike Lazaridis, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/MLZ.jpg.

A full history is available at www.perimeterinstitute.ca.

Contacts:
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
John Matlock
Director of External Relations and Outreach
Email: jmatlock@perimeterinstitute.ca
Website: www.perimeterinstitute.ca

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