<p>When I graduated from McGill with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1983, I never imagined that I would one day serve my alma mater as Dean of Management. I was enormously proud to return to McGill this summer to join colleagues who bring a wealth of talent and dedication to their teaching and research and who have used their skills to create an astonishingly innovative and diverse range of academic programs. It is for these reasons that, year after year, the students who choose to come to McGill lead the nation in academic performance and honours - a fact confirmed again in this year’s Maclean’s magazine university rankings.</p>
<p>When I began my tenure as Dean, I announced that our goal was to make McGill’s the best management faculty in Canada. Our tradition of program innovation, our global reputation and the quality of our students, faculty and staff make the goal an obvious one. Now, a $22-million gift from the Canadian Credit Management Foundation (CCMF) and its President and CEO, Marcel Desautels, brings that goal nearer. It will provide the critical resources needed to foster continued innovation, to leverage excellence and to reinforce our long tradition of developing broad-thinking business leaders who have a global outlook and understand the importance of personal responsibility.
Not just business as usual</p>
<p>Just like Marcel Desautels, we at McGill have always understood that good business is about more than just the bottom line. In today’s global economy, it’s more crucial than ever that business leaders consider the effects of business on people, society, culture and the environment as they make management decisions.</p>
<p>We are particularly well positioned to promote the kind of broad-based and highly principled approach to business education that is at the heart of Marcel Desautels’ own philosophy. We’ve been teaching business at McGill since 1906, and our Faculty has always welcomed to its ranks academics with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. As a Faculty, we not only value but thrive on that diversity. This diversity is also reflected in our student population. Our MBA graduates were this year ranked by the Financial Times as first in North America for international mobility, and our incoming undergraduate class is made up of people from more than 50 different countries. Our network of alumni is a true global resource.</p>
<p>Based on this reputation, McGill was invited in 2004 to be part of a small international consortium of top business schools charged with developing initiatives to prepare future business leaders to manage complex ethical, social and environmental concerns. Almost half of our professors conduct research in emerging areas related to these themes, such as social innovation, corporate responsibility, environmental sustainability and health policy. At both the undergraduate and MBA levels, our students have formed groups that, among other services and activities, offer counselling to Montreal non-profit organizations and rally support for fair trade, shared prosperity and adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. Their philanthropic activities also raise tens of thousands of dollars for Montreal-area charities each year.</p>
<p>Here, we clearly don’t believe in business as usual.
New name and new opportunities</p>
<p>The donation will enable us to build on our existing research and teaching strengths; launch a visiting scholars program and an annual symposium; create awards for professors and scholarships and fellowship for students; and make enhancements to our facilities. More specifically, it will be allocated as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>$9 million toward three endowed chairs</li>
<li>$3 million toward scholars’ awards</li>
<li>$2 million toward a visiting scholars program</li>
<li>$2 million toward research programs</li>
<li>$2 million toward scholarships and fellowships</li>
<li>$1 million toward an annual symposium</li>
<li>$3 million toward enhancing facilities</li>
<li>$22 million TOTAL</li>
</ul>
<p>This gesture of support recognizes that we are making important contributions to innovative business practices - practices that emphasize the importance of a global outlook and personal responsibility.</p>
<p>Thanks to the Canadian Credit Management Foundation and Marcel Desautels, McGill will have the resources to advance its leadership role on the world stage.</p>
<p>Merci Marcel.</p>
<p>Dr. Peter Todd
Dean, Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University</p>