There’s a quiet humility to Arnold Rumbold’s philanthropy.
The 93-year-old has donated millions of dollars to organizations around the city, including NAIT, where he was named a Distinguished Friend of the Institute in 2022 and an Honorary Diploma recipient in 2024.
Rumbold also recently donated a whopping $2.04 million to fund three initiatives at NAIT, including a $10,000 leadership award — NAIT’s largest student award.
Despite how his support has impacted the city, he doesn’t care much about being noticed for it. The ceremony announcing his donation to NAIT was even closed to the public.
“The right people know. The wrong people don’t have to. It doesn’t matter about them. It’s a feeling of responsibility,” he said. “We’ve lived in great communities, it’s our responsibility to see that that continues.”
Instead, Rumbold wants people to focus on what really matters: the students.
“I wouldn’t concentrate that their name is up there on an interesting place,” he said. “I would concentrate on the fact that the money that we put into this is going into programs to help advance students.”
“And that’s where it should go.”
Rumbold doesn’t have a traditional donor story. He grew up on a homestead with no electricity, and remembers draining the flashlight batteries playing with motors. In grade 12, he worked with a local electrical contractor for an informal apprenticeship, and in 1953, he started training as an electrician.
The donation will be split in three ways:
- $1.04 million will go to a new leadership award, where recipients will get NAIT’s largest student award at $10,000
- $500,000 will be used for NAIT’s Advanced Skills Centre for things like supplies and equipment
- $500,000 will support engaging youth in the skilled trades and mental health initiatives
But not at NAIT.
Rumbold went to what eventually became SAIT. He moved to Edmonton in 1958 with his wife and worked as an electrician until 1964, when he realized he had a knack for estimating while working on the construction of NAIT’s Administrative building.
He later started a consulting business, where he stayed until he ended his career at 70. Despite never attending NAIT, he’s donated thousands to the institution, simply because he believes in the trades.
“The trades are where it’s at nowadays. You need university, you need NAIT. And they’re both equally important,” said Rumbold.
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A legacy of generosity spanning decades
The first time Rumbold donated to NAIT was in 2007. He and his late wife, Grace, created the Arnold Rumbold Apprenticeship award. Focusing on women in the trades, recipients were awarded $1500.
Jessica Kelly received the award in 2018 after a career change. At 35, she had just left a bad relationship and was looking to build financial independence and start over. She enrolled in NAIT’s electrician program and got a job at a small commercial electrical company. The money from the award helped her purchase tools and other school supplies, but the friendship that blossomed with Rumbold was far more impactful to her.
“You don’t expect when you get a bursary to actually have any contact with the person giving you the money,” said Kelly.
“It was actual caring behind the action. It wasn’t just about how it looked. They actually cared, which made a huge difference.”
Kelly eventually moved into the estimating side of electrical, mirroring Rumbold’s own career path — something the two discussed in their regular phone calls.
“He was telling me about this path, and how amazed he was that I was actually embarking on a very similar path as he did, and he shared how much he loved that path and his passion for it.”
“He was really hoping that it would be as successful for me as it was for him.”
On Jan. 5, Kelly will start a new job in her home city of Montreal as an estimator. She’s nervous — working in the trades is hard for many people, but especially women. The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum reports that in the last six years consistently, less women finish their programs than men. In 2022, only 36 per cent of women registered in a Red Seal trade completed their program.
“Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. There was eight of us in our classroom, and out of the eight, I think four of us made it,” said Kelly.
But she credits Arnold’s mentorship and support as a big motivator to keep going. “Him touching base every so often and encouraging me, I felt accountable in some ways to having to continue forward no matter what.”
“It’s a hard industry, and it’s always nice when you know you have nice people out there to help and mentor and support.”
While the Arnold and Grace Rumbold Leadership award isn’t solely focused on the trades, it will certainly have a similar impact on students that receive it.
“It’s sort of life-changing, for many students,” said Robyn Khunkun, NAIT’s Associate Vice President, Advancement and Alumni Relations. “He really wanted this element of recognizing students for the great work that they’re doing beyond the classroom, and beyond their studies.
Rumbold, while optimistic about the futures of young people, recognizes his generation was presented with different opportunities. “I would say that my generation has come through the best times of ever,” he said. He mentioned how times are changing and how people like his granddaughter are fortunate to have a well-paying job.
“Not everyone is going to be enjoying that, even with good education,” he said. “NAIT and the technical schools offer education, which gives you good wages when you step out the last door.”
Applications for the award are open now, and the deadline to apply is March 2, 2026.
