U of M grads riding high on prestigious business list
Sat Dec 22 2007
By Geoff Kirbyson
THE University of Manitoba placed third in Canada in an international survey of post-secondary institutions for its ability to produce top business leaders.
The study, which was conducted by École des Mines de Paris, ranked the U of M 84th out of 338 universities around the world, tied with the University of Toronto and trailed only Concordia University in Montreal and Queen's University, in Kingston, Ont., which tied for 34th.
The U of M beat an Ivy League school, Cornell, (Ithaca, N.Y.) and other higher-profile colleges like Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, Atlanta's Emory University and the London Business School in Great Britain.
The survey examined the performance of educational training programs based on the business and career accomplishments of their graduates. It then compared the number of graduates holding a chief executive officer position in a leading global Fortune 500 company, as listed by Fortune magazine in 2006.
The U of M alumni on the list are Rick Waugh, CEO of Scotiabank and Gerry Schwartz, CEO of Onex Corp.
Waugh said it was great to see that the U of M continues to be recognized for the standard of excellence it sets in equipping business students to take on the challenges of an increasingly global business world.
"I received a first-rate business education right in my hometown at the University of Manitoba, an education that has served me exceedingly well throughout my career with Scotiabank," he said.
U of M president Emoke Szathmáry admits to not being a fan of surveys ranking universities, but this one is different, she said.
"They're explicit and upfront (in their criteria). They've selected the CEO in a global Fortune 500 company. They're not looking at general education, they're looking specifically at the business world. (The survey) is good recognition of the calibre of students we produce, end of story," she said.
Glenn Feltham, dean of the Asper School of Business at the U of M, said he was "thrilled" by the survey's results.
"One of the things the Asper School and the U of M have done remarkably well is turn out leaders at the very highest level," he said.
Feltham singled out contrarian investor David Dreman, who manages a portfolio worth billions of dollars, as a prime example.
Other grads have stayed closer to home but have also had an important impact, he said.
"What they have in common is they received an education that allowed them to think broadly and encouraged them to take risks and think big thoughts," he said.
The top three schools in the survey were Harvard, Tokyo University and Stanford.
Szathmáry said the U of M's performance in the survey could be used as a recruiting tool.
"It's a very practical area. Who doesn't want to produce graduates who would rise in the business world?" she said.
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
The Bisons of business
There are many University of Manitoba graduates who are at the helm of major corporations. Scotiabank's Rick Waugh and Onex's Gerry Schwartz are two notable ones, but add these names to the list:
Hartley Richardson (James Richardson & Sons Limited); Murray Taylor (IGM Financial); Gilles Chaput (BDO Dunwoody); Timothy Hearn (Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil Ltd.); Clayton Riddell (Paramount Resources); Phyllis Yaffe (Alliance Atlantis); Charlie Spiring (Wellington West Capital); Bob Brennan (Manitoba Hydro); Jamie Brown (Frantic Films); John Langstaff (Cangene Corp.); and Nick Logan (National Leasing Group).
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