May/June 2024

Dear colleagues,

I want to thank everyone who attended convocation. The spirit at Place des Arts was joyful and it was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces. It is always a treat for me to be able to congratulate each one of our graduates as we pose together for their official picture on stage!

As we move into summer and vacations, I’m happy to share some updates with you.

Despite the challenges stemming from the tuition changes, I was pleased to read in this article from The Gazette that JMSB’s strong reputation was mentioned as a key component of attracting more students.

As we begin celebrating Concordia’s 50th anniversary, I know we can take pride in everything our university and JMSB have done to positively impact our communities near and far.

Celebrating our success

Jordan LeBel was named a member of the Order of Excellence in Education. This is amazing recognition of his dedication to higher education. We know how deeply committed he is to the student learning experience. I’m glad for him that his contribution was recognized by the National Assembly! We appreciate everything he does for our students and for our community. Thank you, Jordan!

Michel Magnan and Emilio Boulianne were honoured on June 15 during the Awards Lunch at the CAAA annual conference in Halifax. Michel received the Haim Falk Award for Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Thought. Emilio won the 2024 Lazaridis Institute Prize for Best Paper on Accounting Issues Relevant to Technology Firms. Bravo messieurs, you make us proud!

Caroline Roux’s co-authored article, “Rethinking Scarcity and Poverty: Building Bridges for Shared Insight and Impact” in the Journal of Consumer Psychology was named a finalist for the AMA-EBSCO-RRBM Award for Responsible Research in Marketing. Caroline has been researching the topic of scarcity for many years and created a name for herself, which is quite an achievement. Bravo!

On May 29, some of our faculty members were recognized during Concordia’s annual faculty awards celebration.

Congrats to Matthäus Tekathen on winning the Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching. Bravo to Navneet Vidyarthi on winning the Award for Excellence in Teaching. And congrats to Zeynep Arsel on winning the Graduate Mentoring Award from the School of Graduate Studies.

Their exceptional commitment to our students is admirable. They contribute to their success and happiness and to our stellar reputation. I was very happy to see our colleagues receiving their awards at the ceremony. We thank them for their contribution to the excellence of teaching and supervision at JMSB and Concordia.

Congratulations to Sharon Nelson, assistant director of our Executive MBA program, on being named a 2024 CBC Black Changemaker. The Black Changemakers project highlights Black Quebecers who are making a difference and inspiring others. She has been working to help the Black community for years; this award is so well deserved. Bravo Sharon!

Undergraduate marketing student Michael Lecchino is among only 10 undergraduate students in Canada to win a 3M National Student Fellowship, and the first student at Concordia to receive this award. He was coached by Jordan LeBel, himself a recipient of the 3M National Teaching Fellowship. Way to go, Michael!

On May 28, Concordia celebrated its annual Alumni Recognition Awards. We had four winners among them: Maria Mangiocavallo, BComm 86, GrDip 89, Humberto Santos Award of Merit and Service; Andrea Polatos, EMBA 09, MBA Alumna of the Year; Tim Field, BComm 96, MBA 00, Outstanding Faculty and Staff Award and Harvin Hilaire, BComm, Business Technology Management/Marketing, Outstanding Student Leader Award.

Congratulations to all the winners! I couldn’t be prouder of our community’s contributions.

Case competitions

Our case competition teams, both undergraduate and MBA, had an exceptional year. My congratulations to all the competitors and thanks to our coaches! You can see the roundup of wins here.

Internal appointments

Congratulations to Rustam Vahidov on his nomination to chair of the Department of Supply Chain and Business Technology Management for a second mandate. In addition, Matthäus Tekathen has been nominated chair of the Department of Accountancy for a second mandate. Both are starting their 3-year second mandate and I appreciate their willingness to continue in this very demanding role. Congratulations!

External appointments

Congratulations to Lea Prevel Katsanis on being named editor-in-chief of Hypothesis, a new journal published by Catalytic Health. Lea will support pharmaceutical practitioners by providing the latest in academic marketing research and how it can be applied to real world situations.

Research

Adriane MacDonald is part of the Municipal Net-Zero Action Research Partnership (N-ZAP). On May 27, the research group released a report and database on the current state of climate action in Canadian municipalities. Both were informed by a survey designed and led by Adriane.

Events

We celebrated many joyous graduations and other events in May and June.

The Van Berkom Investment Management program hosts its graduation on June 18, the last event with Amr Addas as director. All the best!

On June 3, we hosted the 26th Induction Ceremony of new members to the Concordia Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma. I want to congratulate our newly inducted members on their remarkable academic achievements and give a special thank you to Maria Mangiocavallo, a member of our advisory board, for delivering an inspiring keynote speech.

Our EMBA program also celebrated its graduates on June 3 and our Goodman Institute of Investment Management MBA students held their graduation celebration on June 5.

The Career Roadmap for International Student Excellence (C-RISE) hosted its inaugural Toronto Networking Trip for John Molson international students from May 15-17. The trip was made possible thanks to a generous gift from Scotiabank and gave students the opportunity to expand their networks in Toronto and get a feel for the city. Undergraduate and graduate students were able to visit with employers and attend the International Student Alumni Networking Cocktail.

Rahul Ravi was invited by the Conseils de relations international de Montréal (CORIM) to participate in an event with the High Commissioner of India to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma as part of their Série affaires étrangères. Having one of our faculty members invited to interview such a high-profile personality is exceptional and I want to thank Rahul for accepting this invitation, which could have been politically charged. I understand he did very well on that front and for the entire interview.

We feted the latest Calvin Potter fellows at the Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management program graduation ceremony on May 7.

On May 1, over 65 industry recruitment partners joined students and CMS staff at Maison Manuvie for the CMS Employer Recognition Cocktail. We were happy to recognize our partner employers for their continued support.

JMSB Experience

Just in time for summer, we opened the MB-15 Lounge Terrace. Keep coming upstairs; it’s great to hear your laughter and see you around. You should have all received an email outlining the rules and opening hours of the terrace. You can also consult them any time on the JMSB SharePoint site.

Closing remarks

I would like to close this last newsletter of 2023-24 by thanking each one of you. The time and effort you put into your respective roles help to protect and enhance the reputation of our School, especially now as we are facing more challenges.

I hope everyone will be able to relax and recharge this summer and I look forward to welcoming you back on campus during our traditional Back-to-School BBQ at the start of the Fall semester!

Take care, bon été!

Anne-Marie Croteau, PhD, CDir
Dean