Philanthropists’ $5-million gift recognized with naming of new building on Bannatyne campus

Dentistry alum Dr. Gerald Niznick and his wife Reesa have made a landmark gift to UM, contributing $5 million to leading-edge dental clinics to be located in a new building on the Bannatyne campus.

In recognition of this extraordinary act of philanthropy, it was announced on Sept. 20 that the five-storey building – now under construction at the corner of McDermot Avenue and Tecumseh Street – will be called the Dr. Gerald and Reesa Niznick Centre.  

Niznick, a prosthodontist and entrepreneur who is renowned for inventing dental implant technologies, credits UM with giving him a strong career foundation. He and his wife live in California but maintain close ties to Winnipeg.

Niznick said he and Reesa are pleased to support a facility that will foster excellence in the dentistry and dental hygiene students who learn to care for patients there.

“It will provide state-of-the-art clinics for training on the full scope of patient care, utilizing the latest technologies,” he said.

The Niznicks’ earlier transformative gift of $7.5 million was recognized with the renaming of the dental college in 2018 as the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry.

“Throughout Dr. Gerald Niznick’s years of pioneering work in dental research and patient care, he has always demonstrated his belief that the future of health care depends on well-educated, well-rounded and highly skilled professionals, which, as an alum, he knows UM provides,” said UM President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Michael Benarroch.

“We are incredibly thankful to Dr. Gerald and Reesa Niznick for this generous gift, which will create the learning and training space that our students need.”

The dental clinics will occupy two floors of the new centre, slated to open in 2027. The undergraduate clinic will be equipped with more than 50 operatories (treatment chairs).

Eight clinics on a separate floor will focus on dental specialties and graduate programs such as orthodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics and oral surgery.

“We are grateful to the Niznicks for their long history of support that has enabled us to innovate, adapt, and optimize our operations to better meet the evolving needs of our community,” said Dr. Anastasia Kelekis-Cholakis, dean of the college.

The Province of Manitoba has committed $40 million toward the construction of the Dr. Gerald and Reesa Niznick Centre, which will also house learning spaces for medical education, as well as Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing and a child-care centre.

The dental college is fundraising to fully equip the new clinics. There are opportunities for donor naming of operatories and other spaces, said Brooke Karlaftis, donor relations officer. “If you’re a dentistry or dental hygiene alum, we hope you’ll be inspired to contribute,” she said.

A week after the Niznick gift announcement, Kelekis-Cholakis spoke at the annual dentistry and dental hygiene Alumni of Distinction Awards gala. She encouraged her fellow alumni to generously support the fundraising campaign.

“The previous generation of Manitoba dentists ensured we had a great, well-equipped dental school, and we were privileged to receive an excellent, affordable education,” she said.

“Our turn has now come to pay this back, to leave the next generation of students not only an exceptional school … but also a state-of-the-art facility.”