The donation is one of the largest private gifts ever to a university or college in the United States and ranks as one of the top ten gifts to a U.S. institution of higher education in the past ten years, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education. A goalie with the UND hockey team in the 1950s, Engelstad was offered a contract by the Chicago Blackhawks, but turned it down to pursue a business career. He graduated from UND in 1954 with a degree in commerce.
Life is filled with ups and downs.
But I've been very fortunate to be on the upper side more times than I was on the bottom. It is my desire to share my good fortune with the UND hockey team. He said details about how the money would be used would be worked out with UND officials. Among those who spoke to the standing-room only crowd in the upper floor of Engelstad Arena were Gov. Ed Schafer, UND President Kendall Baker, UND President Emeritus Thomas J. Clifford, Grand Forks Mayor Pat Owens, East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss, President Pro Tem of the North Dakota Senate Sen. Wayne Stenehjem, UND Alumni Association President F. John Marshall, and Earl Strinden, executive vice president of the UND Alumni Foundation and UND Alumni Association, who presided over the news conference. North Dakota University System Chancellor Larry Isaak and Board President Jack Hoeven both sent congratulatory statements which were read at the news conference.