After less than a year at the job, Ericsson Senior VP and head of North American operations Rima Qureshi (BCom’87, MBA’96) has left the company. Chief Strategy Officer Niklas Hueveldop has stepped in on an interim basis, and the company has started the search for a permanent replacement. Ericsson is in the midst of a turnaround, streamlining operations and bumping up its investment in R&D.

Rima Qureshi (BCom'87, MBA'96) knows all about learning to adapt. In an interview with Desautels Professor Karl Moore, she says that as a highly analytical, self-contained decision-maker, her position as senior VP and North American head of Ericsson has taught her the importance of listening, getting others involved in decision-making early, and finding a common position to build on.
Deron Triff (MBA'98) has had an enviable career; he’s worked for PBS, TED, and Scholastic. Now, he’s founded a new media incubator with another former TED executive, June Cohen.
Wait, What? specializes in creating VR series, apps, and video for social media. The company’s latest creation is a 10-episode podcast called Masters of Scale. Each episode sees host and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman explore the ways that iconic founders grew their companies into major players, often from nothing.
After four years as VP and Director at Valeurs Mobilières Desjardins, Luc Papineau (BA’81, MBA’91) thinks it’s time to kick his game up a notch by doubling VMD’s Montreal-area advisors and diving further into the opportunities offered by the allophone market.
Barclays Bank Kenya CEO Jeremy Awori (MBA’96) more or less fell into banking. He started out as a competitive swimmer, but when his Olympic dream fell apart he went to the UK on a scholarship and became a pharmacist.
After practicing for a few years, Mr. Awori opted for an MBA in Finance at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management, which led him into a job at Standard Chartered Bank.

Montreal’s eXplorance has made it onto the Great Place to Work list of the best workplaces for the 4th year in a row. EXplorance is a learning experience management specialist that has gone through huge growth and acquired a business intelligence solutions provider over the past year without losing its corporate culture.
CEO Samer Saab (BEng'93, MBA'96) calls growth a “multidisciplinary challenge,” saying that “you have to constantly challenge the status quo, while sustaining your business culture.”
Melissa Youssef (MBA'91) is stepping into municipal politics in Durango, Colorado. She is a civically-minded member of the community and a successful businesswoman; Ms. Youssef is VP of the local Parks and Recreation Advisory board, and has served as President of the Durango Discovery Museum and VP of the school district’s Board of Education. She was founder and CEO of a medical billing practise, and previously worked in several analyst positions in real estate, finance and corporate banking. Ms.

Desautels alumna Lauren Merkel (MBA'13) makes the case that Bermuda’s best resource for moving the island nation forward is its arts and cultural capital. Ms. Merkel is a senior consultant at Toronto-based Lord Cultural Resources, which specializes in the cultural heritage sector.

The Desautels Faculty of Management was well represented at this year’s HEC Corporate Responsibility Challenge. Among the twelve competing teams, MBA students Taha Ataullah, Bernardo Prôa Bressane, Hardeep Singh, and Karen Vanthuyne secured second place, while Angela Hernandez Castillo, Matt Jones, Akshay Kohli, and Margarita Komarova placed fifth.
The latter team was invited to present their case solution to the Board of Directors of ACEM Montreal Community Loan Fund in April.

The Desautels MBA case team composed of Catherine Du Pont, Jiawei Lin, Helena Rati, Karen Sidhu, Jessica Truong secured first place at the USC Marshall Global Case Competition, which was hosted at the Amazon Headquarters in Seattle, WA. Congratulations to all!

Jean-Paul Deveau sells seaweed — or rather, products derived from it. His company, Acadian Seaplants Limited, is the world’s biggest producer of seaweed-based fertilizers and products for human and animal consumption. The company manufactures in five locations, including New Brunswick, Maine and Ireland; and exports to over 80 countries. One of those countries is Japan, where Deveau’s products are ubiquitous.

Quebec’s finance minister, Carlos Leitão, is touring the province’s universities to consult students and other university members ahead of the provincial budget. The agenda is heavy on fiscal policy, public infrastructure investment, regional development and the social safety net. So far, Mr. Leitão has been to the University of Sherbrooke, Laval University and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Speech By President Tony Tan At The Appreciation Dinner For Mr Wong Ngit Liong, Former Chairman, NUS
Good evening. I am pleased to join the NUS community this evening to pay tribute to Mr Wong Ngit Liong, who has helmed the National University of Singapore for 12 years, from 2004 to 2016.

HEC Montréal, les universités Laval, McGill, et Concordia ont toutes un ou plusieurs agréments internationaux, et ce, depuis plusieurs années. En revanche, l'UQAM n'en a plus, et l'Université de Sherbrooke ne cherche pas en avoir.

The future home of the MBA and specialized Masters Programs
Renovations began at full pace this September in the Donald E. Armstrong Building, which will house our MBA and Masters programs.
Since then, progress is being made every day, with the grand opening slated for Winter 2018.