Building the right foundation
After graduating from 海角社区, Michael Pesner (BCom鈥�63) took over his father鈥檚 accounting and insolvency practice before joining a KPMG predecessor firm as a chairman and managing partner. Over the next 26 years, he navigated challenges in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and insolvency so adeptly that he was invited to serve on the KPMG board of directors.
Stand for Something聽
Inez聽Jabalpurwala聽(BA鈥�89, MA鈥�91, MBA鈥�01) credits her years at 海角社区 with inspiring her to take a stand for the causes she supports. As a member of the 海角社区 Debating Union, she learned to express herself clearly and persuasively, a skill that served her well as the Global Director of聽VineX聽and former CEO of Brain Canada.
EMBA alumnus leads聽Longueuil聽police department to receive top municipal honours聽聽
Under the directorship of Fady Dagher (EMBA鈥�12), the police department for the urban agglomeration of Longueil (SPAL), along with the City of聽Longueuil, recently received a top municipal prize from the Union聽Des聽Municipalit茅s聽Du Qu茅bec (UMQ).
BCom alumnus publishes first novel
Daniel Aleman (BCom鈥�16) landed a role at a marketing services firm immediately after earning his degree at the Desautels Faculty of Management, but it wasn鈥檛 long before he pursued a different calling as a full-time author. Now, as he promotes his first novel, he expresses gratitude for the marketing and communications skills he honed as a BCom student.
Announcing the 2021 Lionel Pelham Kent Scholarship recipients
Congratulations to聽Laurent聽Bri猫re-Dulude聽(BCom'20),聽Paige Doyle聽(BCom'20),聽Fran莽ois-Xavier Lord聽(BCom'20),聽David Masella聽(BCom'20),聽脡tienne Poulin-Leblanc聽(BCom'20)聽and聽Sara聽Shin聽(BCom'20) who were awarded the Lionel Pelham Kent Scholarship by the聽Graduate Certificate in Professional Accounting (GCPA)
Desautels alumna becomes President & CEO of Knight Therapeutics Inc.聽聽
Congratulations to Samira Sakhia (BCom鈥�90, DPA鈥�94, MBA鈥�01), who will take on a new challenge as President and Chief Executive Officer of Knight Therapeutics Inc., a Montreal-based company focused on acquiring or in-licensing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products for Canada and Latin America.
BCom alumna makes Women in Fintech Powerlist 2020
Congratulations to Laviva Mazhar (BCom鈥�15), who made the Innovate Finance鈥檚 2020 global Women in Fintech Powerlist in the investor category. For the past six years, the Powerlist has highlighted female talent with the growing FinTech sector. As an investment associate at Luge Capital, a FinTech-focused venture capital firm, Mazhar sources and evaluates investment opportunities and supports portfolio companies.
MBA alumnus wins prestigious Prix Hommage
Congratulations to Claude Mongeau (MBA鈥�88), who received this year鈥檚 Prix Hommage Les As de la finance at an annual ceremony hosted by the Quebec Chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI) Canada. Mongeau joins nearly 100 other notable leaders in Quebec finance who have received an award since the event began in 2011. He has served as a Chief Financial Officer for 100 years and President and CEO for six years with CN.
Former president of Doctors Without Borders joins School of Population and Global Health
Joanne Liu (MDCM鈥�91, IMHL鈥�14, DSc鈥�16) brings decades of experience as a pediatric emergency room physician and former international president of Doctors Without Borders to 海角社区鈥檚 School of Population and Global Health. In her new role as a professor, she will focus on pandemic and health emergencies.
Welcoming a new cohort of GCPA students
The second week of May marks the start of the Graduate Certificate in Professional Accounting program (GCPA) for an incoming cohort of 49 students. This year鈥檚 cohort consists of 43 of 海角社区鈥檚 very own Bachelor of Commerce graduates, with the remaining students coming from other Canadian universities.
Playing the odds
From Olympic figure skater to CEO of a multi-million-dollar company, Craig Buntin (MBA鈥�13) has never shied away from risk. As he and his team at Sportlogiq harness the power of AI to offer analytical insights to professional sports teams, Buntin points to the role of 海角社区 and the surrounding community in providing a launching pad for success.
Global banking executive gives back to her alma mater
Alberta Cefis (BA鈥�75, MBA鈥�79) was one of only a dozen women in her MBA class at 海角社区, but she never felt discriminated against because of her gender. The male-dominated banking industry, on the other hand, was a different story. Fortunately, Cefis was able to land a managerial role at the Royal Bank of Canada through a recommendation from a professor.
Transforming air travel for people with disabilities
An idea that arose from a nightmarish flight experience for Sandra Gualtieri, founder of Gualtieri Inventions, has blossomed into an innovative new product for people living with disabilities. Informed by her own experience in living with cerebral palsy, Gualtieri designed a prototype for the Universal Seating Apparatus, a portable device that allows people with disabilities to sit comfortably upright on airplanes.
IMPM alumnus remakes Canada鈥檚 first gas-powered car
Ron Foss (IMPM鈥�99) has rallied a team of tradespeople and vintage automobile experts to recreate the first gas-powered car in Canada, the 鈥楩ossmobile.鈥� In the late 1800s, Foss鈥檚 grandfather, George Foote Foss, was a bike mechanic and blacksmith in Sherbrooke, Quebec, who began constructing the Fossmobile to see if he could improve upon the electric car he encountered on a trip to Boston.
MBA alumna shapes agenda at CN
Climbing the ladder from an MBA recruitment program to a top 200 leadership role as director of economics and strategic planning, Janet Drysdale (MBA鈥�96) forged her own path to success at CN. Over the course of 25 years, she successfully navigated heavily male-driven sales, marketing, and revenue planning teams to make an impression among her coworkers, ultimately being named a winner in the WXN CIBC Executive Leaders category.
