October/November 2025

Dear colleagues,

In mid-October, I attended AACSB and BSAC Deans Conferences, both in Toronto. The experience made me realize how all business schools around the world and in Canada are going through seismic changes as the landscape of higher education shifts and evolves. I am so grateful for our John Molson School community and everything each one of you does to provide an excellent experience for our students.

As the term comes to an end and we approach the holiday season, I’d like to share some positive news and highlights with you.

Foster a sense of belonging and engagement

Dean's Awards

We were so proud to celebrate with our colleagues at the annual Dean’s Awards holiday lunch on December 4. It was truly a joy to get together to recognize this year’s honourees and connect with everyone before the holidays.

I would like to congratulate Arman Sadreddin, assistant professor, supply chain and business technology management, on receiving the emerging scholar award; Pierre-Yann Dolbec, associate professor, marketing, on receiving the mid-career scholar award; Zeynep Arsel, professor, marketing, on receiving the established scholar award; Valentina Mennella, on receiving the outstanding staff contribution award; Mahdi Mirhoseini, assistant professor, supply chain and business technology management, on receiving the award for excellence in teaching; and Eva Lagou, full-time lecturer, accountancy, on receiving the excellence in academic service award.

Thank you to the event organizers Guy Barbeau - stepping in for Kelly Hall - and Barbara Henchey and Alexandra Karnezis for putting on such a lovely event. You can read more about the winners and the event in this story and see photos here.

Anniversary

November 29 marked the 25th anniversary of the John Molson School of Business name! On this date in 2000, Concordia’s Faculty of Commerce and Administration became the John Molson School of Business thanks to a donation from the Molson family and the Molson Foundation.

If you choose to share a memory or anecdote that highlights why you are proud to be part of the John Molson community on social media, please include #JohnMolson25 and #CUpride in your posts. You can see example posts on our channels - johnmolsonschool on Instagram and jmsbconcordia on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Convocation

Convocation is one of my favourite celebratory moments of the academic year! Thank you to everyone who joined me in congratulating the Class of 2025 at Place des Arts. I was especially moved by our honorary doctorate recipient Tulsi Nowlakha Mirchandaney. She has made remarkable contributions as a woman leader, driving innovation in the aviation industry. I was also impressed with our valedictorian Chen Zhang (pictured), who shared insightful and encouraging words in her remarks. 

Open House

I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of our faculty, staff and students who participated in Open House on Saturday, October 26. Thank you for sharing your time to showcase all that our School has to offer. You are our best ambassadors, and we appreciate you!

Social Committee

The Social Committee hosted a Halloween trivia and costume contest event. Congratulations to Salvatore Colavita, Jenessa Speed, Jeremi Harrison-Lalande, Edda Fargnoli and Steve Clark on winning both the trivia and the costume contest! Thanks to Sophie Barbeau for coming up with the trivia questions.

Celebrating our success

Rankings

The Princeton Review ranked our School number 41 for graduate entrepreneurship studies and number two on its International Graduate List.

The QS Business Master’s Rankings 2026 show strong results: our MSc in Marketing, Management and MSCM are ranked 3rd in Canada; and our MSc in Finance and John Molson MBA are ranked 6th in the country.

CPA program news

I’m thrilled to share that 99 of our students passed the 2025 Common Final Exam (CFE)! In addition, one of our CPA graduates, Anastasios Patsilivas, has earned a spot on the CPA Canada CFE Honour Roll! We are very proud of his achievement.

A special thank you to Eva Lagou, our outgoing CPA director, whose leadership and guidance have been instrumental in supporting these candidates over the last 16 years! Under her direction, our CPA program has truly thrived. Eva will continue to play a key role in her new position as Capstone director, overseeing the preparation courses for the exam.

Congratulations to her as well on her appointment to the Conseil de discipline, Ordre des CPA du Québec. As part of her role, she will serve on the discipline committee made up of two CPAs and a lawyer and will review specific professional misconduct cases.

I also want to thank Matthäus Tekathen, who has graciously agreed to serve as CPA director until next June during this transition period, as we navigate the significant curriculum changes introduced by the CPA Order. He will continue as chair of the Department of Accountancy.

Case competitions

Congratulations to the Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management Program students on winning the case competition at the CIBC Mellon Annual Student Investment Fund Conference. This is the second year they earned first place. Bravo!

Our MBA students placed third at the DeGroote Case Competition, a three-day event featuring three cases: a long-form multi-week research case, a six-hour case, and a three-hour case. Congrats to our students and thank you for representing our School so well!

Hosting events

Future Women Entrepreneurs

On November 6, the Barry F. Lorenzetti Centre for Women in Entrepreneurship and Leadership hosted the Future Women Entrepreneurs event. This was the third in a series aimed towards mentoring women in areas where they are underrepresented at the leadership level.

Barry Lorenzetti graciously hosted over 20 enthusiastic students as well as members of the Lorenzetti Centre advisory board, some faculty and other friends of JMSB for an insightful panel discussion and networking opportunities.

I want to thank Ingrid Chadwick and Louise Champoux-Paillé for their leadership of this centre and their creative thinking in reaching and inspiring women to achieve their full potential. Thanks as well to the esteemed panelists: Anie Rouleau, founder and CEO, The Unscented Company; Sarah Takforyan, founder and CEO, C'est BONBON; and Mishel Wong, co-founder & CEO, Bo. You can see photos from the event here.

KWPMP fall celebration

The Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management program held its fall celebration on November 11, where Director Sergey Gelman welcomed the latest cohort of Research Associates. It was a great kickoff to what I’m certain will be another successful year for this flagship program.

Staff changes – maternity leaves

A big congratulations to Kelly Hall, coordinator, special projects and events planning and Cara Stuckey, advisor, faculty relations, on the birth of their babies. We wish them all the best in this exciting chapter.

Centraide efforts

Our JMSB Centraide efforts were a huge success. The bingo tournament raised a total of $1,500! Thanks to Valentina Mennella and Ka Pong Law for organizing this event. In addition, Larissa Yousoubova raised $30 and counting by selling aloe plants in the MB 15 lounge. Eva Ferrara, supply chain and business technology management department administrator, organized the raffle tickets and the Nespresso machine. The raffle raised $1,225.00 towards this important cause.

Congratulations to our raffle winners: Bertha Magalhaes (PhD Office) – winner of the Wintery Wonderland Basket with a $50 Winners gift card; Ken Mayer (Facilities) – winner of the ManMade basket; and Umit Aykut (IT, Faculty Relations) – winner of the grand prize Nespresso Machine!

Closing remarks

As always, it’s been a very busy term. I am so proud of everything that our community can achieve, thanks to our commitment to JMSB and our passion and belief in what we’re doing. I wish you all a restful holiday break and a very happy and healthy new year.

Take care,
Anne-Marie Croteau, PhD, CDir
Dean