Congratulations to BCom students Antoine Bertrand, Andrew Hong, Kara L'Ecuyer and Etienne Pouliot who were awarded the 2021-2022 Undergraduate Scholarships by the CPA Foundation.
Every year, the Foundation supports almost 190 students from across Quebec by offering over $310,000 in scholarships and awards. Thanks to its various scholarship programs, the Foundation helps underprivileged youth achieve success, encourages social involvement and highlights the excellence of future CPAs.
颁辞苍驳谤补迟耻濒补迟颈辞苍蝉听迟辞 Sean McNally (BCom鈥�21), this year鈥檚 valedictorian at the Desautels Faculty of Management, for his academic achievements and contributions to the Desautels community. As McNally moves on to a management consulting role at Oliver Wyman in Montreal, he reflects on his time at Desautels and his intention to continue cultivating personal and communal growth in every stage of his career.
Claude G茅n茅reux (BEng鈥�85) and his wife, Myriam Legault (BEd鈥�85), announced a donation of $1 million to the McGill Athletics and Recreation. Their gift will support student athletes, both in and out of the stadium, by providing scholarships, funding community service opportunities.
The investment will extend to聽the men鈥檚 lacrosse team,聽on which their son Louis-Charles G茅n茅reux (BCom鈥�18) played when it聽won the national championship in 2015.
Seven years ago, Olivier Babin (BCom鈥�18) won the Bourstadt Stock Market Simulation. Now, at age 25, he has his sights set on launching his own startup in the financial technology sector while continuing to build Mkono, a non-profit he co-founded to provide microcredit without interest to entrepreneurs in Kenya.
Right out of university, Dick Irvin (BCom鈥�53) enjoyed a stable career in Montreal鈥檚 finance sector.
On the cusp of transitioning to a new role as a history teacher, he was interviewed by a CFCF television reporter for a segment about Irvin鈥檚 father, a former head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. The reporter spotted Irvin鈥檚 untapped potential and offered him a job. So began Irvin鈥檚 30-year career in sports broadcasting, which took him across the country to interview icons like Wayne Gretzky and Jackie Robinson.聽
After graduating from McGill, 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. Looking back, he points to the influence of McGill professors and classmates in building a foundation for success.
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.
Congratulations to聽尝补耻谤别苍迟听叠谤颈猫谤别-顿耻濒耻诲别听(叠颁辞尘'20),听Paige Doyle听(叠颁辞尘'20),听Fran莽ois-Xavier Lord聽(叠颁辞尘'20),听David Masella听(叠颁辞尘'20),聽脡tienne Poulin-Leblanc听(叠颁辞尘'20)听补苍诲听厂补谤补听厂丑颈苍聽(BCom'20) who were awarded the Lionel Pelham Kent Scholarship by the聽Graduate Certificate in Professional Accounting (GCPA) 辫谤辞驳谤补尘.听
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. Sakhia brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry to the role.聽聽聽
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.
Congratulations to Desautels BCom students Mahsa Ghazi, Yi Li and Lucas Schachtler on each earning CPA Quebec Assistance Towards Success Scholarships. The scholarships are awarded annually to students across Quebec who are active in social and extracurricular activities while achieving success in their post-secondary studies.
Yi Li and Mahsa Ghazi will be joining the Graduate Certificate in Professional Accounting聽(GCPA Program) this summer.
Congratulations to the 33 Desautels BCom students who competed at 2021 Happening Marketing, the largest marketing games in Canada. The McGill delegation was led by Marie-No毛lle Carrier and C茅dric Jutras from the Desautels Management Case Competition (DMCC). McGill finished with a total of five podiums at the virtual competition;
Congratulations to Desautels BCom student Rachel Wisnia and her teammates from Concordia University for finishing in third place at L鈥橭r茅al Brandstorm 2021. Wisnia and her team (coached by BCom Career Coach Peg Brunelle) tackled the topic of making shopping for cosmetics engaging in a virtual setting. A total of 149 teams took part in the competition.
Daniel Tenenbaum (BCom鈥�88) looks back fondly at his time at McGill. He credits his alma mater with instilling a passion for civic engagement and laying a foundation for success in business.
Now, as the founder of an investment company, he encourages students to find a healthy balance between work and other interests.
Desautels alumnus William Shatner (BCom'52, DLitt'11) recently celebrated his 90th聽birthday. The actor jokingly wondered on Twitter: 鈥淲hat happens when I get to 120?鈥� A native of Montreal, Shatner returned to his alma mater in 2011 to receive an honorary doctorate. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante reached out with warm wishes to Shatner on Twitter, and NASA also sent a birthday message to the Star Trek star.
