Million-Dollar Nexen Donation Backs Leading Scholars at Mount Royal University

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 21, 2012) - Mount Royal University is proud to announce that Nexen Inc. has invested $1 million, over five years, to the newly named Nexen Scholars Program at Mount Royal University. Nexen has supported Mount Royal University in the past and is proud to continue enhancing educational opportunities through this donation - the largest gift to the Institute for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to date.

The first of its kind in Canada - and one of Mount Royal's Institute for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning's signature programs - the Nexen Scholars Program attracts faculty from across North America committed to building and sharing pedagogical knowledge, advancing post-secondary teaching and enhancing student learning beyond the classroom. Nexen's million-dollar investment supports the faculty's innovative course-based research that leads to the development of new best practices for teaching and learning.

"Nexen is proud to invest in this exciting initiative at Mount Royal University," says Pierre Alvarez, Vice President, Corporate Relations at Nexen. "Supporting education is one of the pillars of our community investment strategy. We're committed to building strong communities, and one of the best ways we can contribute to that is by enhancing educational initiatives that help students become successful employees and citizens."

"The Nexen Scholars Program at Mount Royal helps university teachers use their own classrooms to conduct innovative research which results in better understanding and improved learning for students everywhere," says Richard A. Gale, Ph.D, director of the Institute for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. "Nexen's support for the Program demonstrates a clear commitment to innovative educational research and development, and the positive changes such investigations yield for our students, our teachers and our society."

Selected through a rigorous application process, the 2012 Nexen Scholars are:

• Maria Victoria Guglietti, Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication Studies
• Sally Haney, Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication Studies
• Margy MacMillan, Library
• Bev Mathison, Department of Child and Youth Studies, Faculty of Health and Community Studies
• April McGrath, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
• Amanda Williams, Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication Studies

The Nexen Scholars Program, now in its fourth year, stands as a leader in the field and is a model of scholarly collaboration for colleges and universities across the country and around the world.

"No other university provides this type of opportunity to its faculty, and no other program offers an entire year of support, development, collaboration, critique and community," adds Gale.

The central work of the 2012 Scholars will be to develop course-based inquiry projects, conduct research that sheds new light on a significant aspect of student learning, share evidence and findings publicly in an effort to influence practice in the field, and create a culture of teaching and learning inquiry at Mount Royal and beyond.

Scholars are selected for a one-year term and participate in several on-site workshops, three multi-day off-site residencies, and monthly meetings.

For more information about the Nexen Scholars Program and the 2012 Scholars' projects, please visit: www.mtroyal.ca/isotl

Background on Nexen

Nexen Inc. is an independent, Canadian-based global energy company, listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol NXY. Nexen is focused on three growth strategies: oil sands and shale gas in Western Canada and conventional exploration and development primarily in the North Sea, offshore West Africa and deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Nexen adds value for shareholders through successful full-cycle oil and gas exploration and development, and leadership in ethics, integrity, governance and environmental stewardship.