business magazine fall04.qxp 11/26/04 11:35 AM Page 1 fall/winter 04-05 schoolbusiness of business goes public www.bus.ualberta.ca uofUniversitya of Alberta School of Business Alumni Magazine

Strategy and Purpose business magazine fall04.qxp 12/1/04 11:17 AM Page b events

Unless otherwise noted, please contact the School’s External Relations Office at 492-4083 in Edmonton or toll-free at 1-877-362-3222 in Canada & the US. You may also wish to send us an e-mail requesting further information: this issue [email protected] or go to www.bus.ualberta.ca.

January 14 Golden Bears’ Hockey Night in the Bears’ Den t’s hard to imagine but I still get excited when I hear about our graduates’ and our (Bears vs. Saskatchewan Huskies) students’ amazing stories. Six years and 12 issues of the alumni magazine later, and Eric Geddes Breakfast Lecture Series, Edmonton it’s still a thrill to catch up with someone I met at the School’s first alumni event Erhan Erkut, Professor, Vargo Chair, and Winspear Senior Fellow, Finance and Management Science in San Francisco back in March 2001. On page 11 you will learn about California January 14 - 17 MBA Games Iresident Priya Saraswati who changed her career in banking into a passion for the fashion Laval University, Québec City industry. Turn to page 24 and you’ll find out how a former Students’ Union President January 22 Undergraduate Awards Ceremony - Stollery Centre turned his energy and a passion for people into leading Royal LePage’s 10,700 realtors. In January 26 Alberta Business Family Institute (ABFI) fact, we decided to continue profiling the real estate industry as so many of our alumni Signature Event including Todd Throndson on page 27 have made their mark there. The three MBA alumni A Family Tradition... Changing the Landscape featured on our cover share their life stories starting on page 15. with Melcor Developments and the Melton Family February Calgary Business Alumni Lunch February 2 AIESEC Corporate Breakfast On a different note, on December 1, 2004, the Alberta School of Business went ‘public.’ Chateau Lacombe Crowne Plaza No, you won’t find us listed on any stock exchanges, but the analogy of a private February 8 MBA Awards Ceremony – Stollery Centre company going public by selling stock is not entirely misguided. We’re looking to our February 10 Fort McMurray Business Alumni Reception shareholders – our alumni and friends, business and civic leaders, faculty, staff, and February 11 Eric Geddes Breakfast Lecture Series, Edmonton students – to help us attract $20 million in private investment and thereby contribute Jennifer Argo, Assistant Professor, to the Building on Our Strengths: Investing in Our People fundraising campaign. Find out how Marketing, Business Economics and Law much has been raised to date and from whom by turning to page 22 and the two inserts February 21 - 25 Rocky Mountain Business Seminar Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper in the magazine (one explains the business campaign in detail and how it ties in to the February BAA Members’ Reception University’s one, the other lists our donors and tells some of their stories). February 28 Alberta Business Family Institute Seminar Leadership, Wealth, and Business Planning: Creating a Strategic Blueprint Business is published twice a year by the University of Alberta School of March 1 Alberta Business Family Institute Seminar Business. If you would like an additional free subscription or would like Creating and Fostering Relationships as a to send in a comment or update your address, please contact us at: Trusted Advisor to Families External Relations, University of Alberta School of Business March 2 Alberta Business Family Institute Seminar 4-40 Business Building, Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2R6 Familial Leadership: Transferring Values, Culture, e-mail: [email protected] and Ethics web site: www.bus.ualberta.ca March 4 Eric Geddes Breakfast Lecture Series, Edmonton telephone: (780) 492-4083 Karim Jamal, Alexander Hamilton Professor toll-free in canada and the us: 1-877-362-3222 of Business, Accounting and MIS fax: (780) 492-8748 March 23 Canadian Business Leader Award Dinner Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton Dean: Michael Percy Recipient: Ross Grieve, President and CEO Editor and Director, External Relations PCL Construction Group Ltd. Elke Christianson April BAA Annual Luncheon Assistant Editor and Manager, Communications April 4 Alberta Business Family Institute Seminar Zanne Cameron Money and the Family Business: Design: Lime Design Inc. Managing Capital and Liquidity Printing: McCallum Printing Group Inc. April 5 Alberta Business Family Institute Seminar Cover image: Tina Chang Succession, Estate, Business and Management Plans: Tying Them All Together business magazine fall04.qxp 12/1/04 11:17 AM Page 1

fall/winter 04-05 www.bus.ualberta.ca contentsbusiness uofUniversitya of Alberta School of Business Alumni Magazine 11 features

tina chang 2 Alumni Profiles As always, catch up with former classmates 8 Around the World Three graduates, three degrees, three continents by debby waldman and wanda vivequin

15 Strategy and Purpose Find out how three alumni have strategically positioned themselves by wanda vivequin

15 22 School of Business goes Public Learn more about the campaign and how alumni can support it 24 No Boundaries Two high achievers are making their mark in real estate by alan findlay and debby waldman

departments

28 Business Alumni Association News 30 Student News BCom Student News, 30 31 BCom Student Profile, 31 MBA Student News, 33 MBA Student Profile, 35 36 Class Notes bluefish studios 44 Business Perspective

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alumniprofile i by zanne cameron

A Man of his Word He has a passion Walking the walk for freedom of For Michael Walesiak, ’93 BCom, it’s all about being a man of his word. The recently married proud new father has a passion for active speech, open citizenry and values the freedoms he’s got as a Canadian citizen. airwaves, and

e has a passion for free- well as a lot of relationship and trust independent dom of speech, open air- building.Walesiak’s strength is in lis- waves, and independent tening, and in facilitating awareness and thought. H thought. He walks the walk sharing knowledge with the stakehold- at work and in his spare ers. Not an easy task when one con- time.“It’s important to be listened to, to siders the aspects of busi- feel comfortable to voice an opinion,” ness issues – personality, says the thirty something accountant. finance, tax issues, market During the day,Walesiak is a Char- assessment are never the tered Accountant and Chartered Busi- same.“Everything revolves ness Valuator with Deloitte & Touche, around the relationships Michael in Edmonton. His day to day work in- that I build. If those are volves business valuation, corporate fi- solid, then my reputation is nance and consulting, some bankruptcy that I do good work.” and dispute resolution, which all sounds That reputation is critical to Wale- boring as heck, but really involves close siak who at the end of the day wants Walesiak personal contact with a diverse group nothing more. “It feels good to be able of businesses, people and problems as to stand in front of a colleague, or the president of a company, or a manager, and to hold your own, to have respect and to be listened to.” So, it is not surprising at all that in his spare time Walesiak sits on the board of the University of Alberta’s indepen- dent radio station, CJSR. “Everyone should listen to CJSR. It’s such an im- portant resource,” remarks Walesiak

“It feels good to be able to stand in front of a colleague, or the president of a company, or a manager, and to hold your own, to have respect and to be listened to.”

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“Democracy is there institute of chartered accountants of alberta accountants institute of chartered for the taking. It’s good to challenge the status quo.”

who believes that it is important to be diligent and to seek out veracity and in- dependent sources of information. He values the independent voices aired on CJSR as an important balance to the mammoth corporate conglomerates that rule the airwaves. CJSR is certainly eclectic and the epitome of an ‘indie’ radio station, airing everything from radical hip-hop, to BBC news broad- casts, and virtually everything in be- tween. “What I love about it is the passion, the freedom to listen to those different points of view. It’s good to be chal- lenged.Virtually anyone can approach CJSR and they’ll try to get you on.” ak Walesiak says he is not a radical, but views the support of freedom of speech as one way to contribute to the com- munity and to be a good citizen. “Democracy is there for the taking.It’s good to challenge the status quo.” Walesiak’s personal heroes are peo- ple such as Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader,Amy Goodman, and late night political spin commentator Jon Stew- art. Lately he would include his wife of two years, Denise Pon-Walesiak, and his new 10 month old baby,Devyn.An- other family passion is travel. Michael, Devyn, and Denise would like to travel to Japan eventually.Denise and Michael have already been to China,Thailand, Europe, and Mexico.

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alumniprofile i by debby waldman

From Molecule to Market Designing, developing, marketing and selling drug-delivery systems

As Director of Business Development for Alkermes, a biotech firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Blair Jackson works alongside MBA and PhD graduates from top academic institutions including Harvard, Prince- “I enjoy negotiating and I just ton, Yale, and MIT. like the health care industry. It’s parallel to the oil and gas industry: it’s a high-risk business y degree stacks up with From what he could see, the best with a big payoff.” theirs,” says Jackson, who place to do that was the U of A where “M was hired five years ago to he could earn a Masters in Chemical work in Alkermes’ engi- Engineering by day and an MBA at neering department. He stayed there for night.“The U of A is a unique school in to work internationally and get more two years before moving to the business that it allowed me to do both without experience in chemical engineering. development department. a lot of work experience,” he says. As part of the MIT program, Jack- “That’s where I wanted to be, but “I liked the part-time MBA because son worked at GE Plastics in Indiana and it was a roundabout way of getting I found the groups more experienced. at Mitsubishi Chemical in Kirashiki, there,” he acknowledges. “I’d say the Some of the people I was with in the Japan.The hands-on experience gave School of Business MBA allowed me, evening had worked for 12 or 15 years him the background he needed to land once I was here, to get where I wanted and had a real broad base and I learned a job in the engineering department to be in the business development role from them.” at Alkermes working for his former pro- and in more of a managerial capacity.” Jackson was especially grateful for the fessor,Batycky.But it was the MBA that Jackson has such a broad background practical aspects of the program. In one he could probably work in just about class, he had the opportunity to work any department at Alkermes whose 500 with a local business, a rock climbing employees design, develop, market, and gym. In another, visiting union and se- sell drug-delivery systems. nior management representatives spoke Before enroling at the U of A in 1996, about negotiations and joint bargaining. Jackson had earned a BSc in Biochem- Meanwhile, in Engineering, Jackson istry at the University of Calgary and spent his first year working with en- had worked in the oil and gas industry. gineering professor Rick Batycky who It didn’t interest him as much as he’d had just arrived from MIT and was help- hoped so he decided to apply his science ing to design better drug-delivery sys- background to the biotech industry. tems.The next year, he worked with a medical school professor who was de- veloping a way to freeze a tumor with- “I’d say the School of out affecting the surrounding tissue. Business MBA allowed me to get Batycky tried, unsuccessfully,to con- where I wanted to be in the vince Jackson to apply to a PhD pro- business development role gram at MIT.“I’d had enough school,” Jackson says, but, because the idea in- and in more of a trigued him, he looked into it.That’s managerial capacity.” how he learned that MIT had a one-year Masters program that would allow him Blair Jackson

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alumniprofile i by alan findlay

An Ideal Marriage Working partnerships

Vanessa Vogwill’s resume is a kaleidoscope of careers. Blended together are a university degree in languages from England, an MBA from the U of A, an education degree from Toronto, stints as a school teacher, computer software instructing, and Y2K consulting for the likes of Canada Trust and the City of Toronto.

itting in her office perched above an intersection on the S southern border of U of T’s campus,Vogwill, ’81 MBA, appears to have found a focus in the prism between a dynamic career and a love of learning by working for Bell Canada Lab- oratories.Vogwill oversees a $6-million helped him land where he really program partnering university re- wanted to be. searchers and the communications com- One of Jackson’s primary re- pany’s own product development branch. sponsibilities at Alkermes is work- She’s also honeymooning as a PhD ing on partnerships and licensing student in industrial engineering.Look- with the company’s drug partners, ing back at the variety of her pursuits Lacking a math background,Vogwill Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson. over the years,Vogwill says she sim- said the program was a tough ride. “I love it,”he says.“It’s a lot of fun. ply blazed a jagged trail that is much “That’s one of the reasons I’m very I like the industry. I enjoy negoti- more the reality now than it was 20 proud. I was always very proud to get ating and I just like the health care years ago.“I was way ahead of my time. my MBA because of the challenge I had industry. It’s parallel to the oil and People kind of acknowledge that my to face. I really worked my you-know- gas industry: it’s a high-risk business generation is probably the last to work what off because I had to make up the with a big payoff. In oil and gas, you for a company 35 years. Behind the baby math and didn’t have the background.” drill a hole and, at the end of the day, boom, it’s going to be difficult, if not Moving to Toronto with her husband, you might hit pay dirt. In biotech, even a reality,for people to go to work Vogwill went on to complete her ed- you take a molecule that you think at the same job for that long.” ucation degree and to teach in both might work in a certain way and, at Vogwill’s path took its first sudden Guelph and Toronto. “I taught for a the end of the trials, you find out.” turn after she left Sussex University and while and then I decided technology The payout is huge – Jackson es- discovered that the value of her degree was where it’s at,” she said.Trouble was, timates that it costs between $500 in the working world wasn’t quite as high Vogwill had no background in com- and $700 million to bring a drug as its personal worth.“I had this French puters at all. Undaunted, she bought from molecule to market. But the degree and I didn’t think it was terri- the manuals for the major word pro- payoff is worth it. bly marketable,”she says.“I felt I needed cessing and data-entry programs and “You’re developing therapeu- to get something more practical.” proceeded to teach herself the basics. tics for patients,” he says. “Not Following her brother to Edmonton, “I tend to use the steep-end technique,” only are you coming out ahead she considered taking the hospital ad- she says with a smile.She started off economically, but you’re helping ministration program before opting for teaching what she had learned, all the people.” her Masters in Business Administration. while building up her own expertise.

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alumniprofile i by debby waldman

“The skills that I learned in the MBA program have been useful to me An Incubator and a Builder every day of my life.” Finding appropriate rates of return on investments

She went on to do some consult- ing for various companies, ulti- Ask Elroy Fimrite, ‘73 BCom, his favorite thing about his work and his mately landing contracts amid the answer is as quick as it is articulate:“Probably what I like best about mad scramble for corporations to it is that in the 30 years since I graduated, there hasn’t been a sin- update their computer systems be- gle solitary day that I get up in the morning and say, ‘I hate my job and fore New Year 2000. I don’t want to go to work. ’ ” She credits both her MBA and teaching background for the versa- tility that has allowed her to make hen again, it could be that he’s panies and taught at NAIT and at such unorthodox leaps in her career. been too busy to be miserable. Grande Prairie Regional College. But She remembers the MBA as an ex- T Take, for instance, the day for the past 20 years, he has been an en- perience where you’re thrown into he was interviewed for this trepreneur. He’s owned construction the deep end of a stifling workload article. He was driving on US Interstate companies, technology businesses and and forced to learn how to prioritize 94 from Holland, Michigan, to Chicago. real estate development concerns. your way through to the end.That In the past 24 hours, he’d also been in “Even my children have had a diffi- and the ability to teach are skills that Houston and Phoenix, and he’d gotten, cult time labeling what it is that I do,” transfer easily to most any sector. at most, two hours of sleep. he says. “I don’t pigeonhole easily.” “The portability of those skills, Now he was headed back to the air- Fimrite has set himself a particularly to me, that’s the real value.They spill port in Chicago to catch a flight.To formidable challenge as of late: “I have over into every aspect of life.The skills where, he wasn’t sure. It all depended a macro picture of businesses I want that I learned in the MBA program on which destination made the most to create, industries I want to create, have been useful to me every day of sense upon arrival at the airport. and systems of managing I want to cre- my life. Learning how to educate peo- It might have been Scottsdale, Ari- ate,” he says. “It incorporates involv- ple, the skills you need to be a good zona, where his rubber recycling com- teacher are highly undervalued.” pany is headquartered. Or it could have Three years ago, she joined up been back to Houston where he is com- with Bell and took on her latest pro- pleting due diligence in preparation for ject. What began in Ontario is purchasing an oil and gas company.Or quickly expanding to universities he might have opted to fly to Victoria, across the country including a po- home to his wife of 31 years and their tential partnership with the U of A. two adult children. He makes sure to She says the program is an ideal mar- see them at least once every ten days. riage between supporting the raw “It’s not for everyone and, certainly academic research of university labs on the path I’ve chosen, there has been “I have a macro picture of with a direction that gives value back an incredible amount of pressure and businesses I want to create...it to the communications company. stress, and, if you’re bothered by that, incorporates involving legislation Her own research is based you shouldn’t go into this type of busi- around designing a hand-held Palm ness,” he says. “Any business venture, around the world, materials and Pilot-style device specifically for particularly any start-up venture, strug- products around the world, and physicians. Once again, she’s found gles with getting finance, and I like the financial systems. It’s a very com- a way to tap into her diverse back- challenge of that. I thrive on challenge.” plex picture, I’ll tell you that.” ground to forge a new path. “My For his first ten years out of the U of plan is to put my studies back into A, Fimrite worked for various com- health care,” she says.

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alumniprofile i by debby waldman

Co-op Success Making a stellar impression

To say Claire Niven is thrilled with her co-op placement at GE Consumer Finance - Americas is some- thing of an understatement.

t has just been tremendous,” says Niven, who started at GE in May after completing her first co- Elroy Fimrite in his office in Dalin, China “I op placement with the Government of Alberta.“I work with such a great team and the environment ing legislation around the world, materials and prod- here is great. It’s a meritocracy and hard work pays off.” ucts around the world, and financial systems. It’s a very A Human Resources major,Niven is working as an HR co- complex picture, I’ll tell you that.” ordinator at GE Consumer Finance, which provides customer In addition to acquiring the oil and gas company in service, collections, and special processing support for a num- Houston, Fimrite is on the cusp of revamping the rubber ber of Canadian and US private-label credit card portfolios. recycling industry.During the past eight years, he’s made Niven manages the front-line recruitment process at the 47 trips to China in large part to learn about the pro- Edmonton call centre site ensuring that hiring targets are be- cess of devulcanization or rubber reclaiming. ing met. She also fields inquiries about employment and ben- In 1998, he acquired a Chinese technology for the pro- efits and facilitates some training with new associates. cess. Since then, he’s gone through the process of com- “The days here go by so fast,”she says.“I’ve never once looked mercializing it for North America. According to his re- at the clock and thought to myself,‘It’s only 11 o’clock.’” search, nobody has made an appropriate rate of return The real-world speed is teaching her on their investment in the rubber recycling industry in important lessons in how to prioritize 30 years, but he’s confident he can change that. and deal with interruptions.“I feel really “The current processes are equivalent to making an confident about the experience I’ve re- omelet by throwing the whole egg into the beater and ceived, and I feel really confident about trying to get the shell out afterwards,” he says. “You use where I’ll be when I finish school,” she large amounts of energy,a high cost of equipment main- says.“I would love employment with GE tenance, and they produce, by and large, a relatively poor when I finish my degree or even before quality product typically at a price that’s much higher than if they’ll take me part time.” what they can sell it at in the marketplace.” Given the stellar impression Niven is The new process is not only more efficient, he says, making, that’s a distinct possibility. it doesn’t pollute. He estimates it will be another year “Claire has been fabulous to work “... She’s taken a lot before he has a plant up and running somewhere in North with,” says Michelle Provencher, one of of ownership and America.“I’m not in a rush,” he says.“I’m focusing on the her supervisors. “We would love to keep she did that very oil and gas industry now.” her on. One of the reasons she’s been a early on into her Once the plant is up and running, however,he’ll leave great fit is that right from the start she’s co-op term, which the daily operations to someone else.“I’m not interested been very responsible, very accountable, is more than we’d in going into the office day to day doing the same thing,” and she’s been able to take over our front- he says. “I can hire people to do that. I am an incubator line recruiting process and run with it. expected from and a builder. I like to build things and find innovative so- She’s made process improvements; she’s a student.” lutions to problems.” simplified it for our team as well as for the page 8 >

u of a business I fall/winter 2004-2005 7 business magazine fall04.qxp 12/1/04 11:18 AM Page 8 getty images Niven loves the responsibility of be- ing in the work world. Her voice fills with enthusiasm when she talks about the work culture at GE and how much she appreciates being held accountable As the Faculty with for everything she does. It’s hard to imag- ine she’d even want to return to a class- the most international room. But one of the many lessons she’s learned through her co-op placements student exchanges at is the value of a university education. the U of A, it makes “I want to move up and, in order to move up, you need a degree,” she says. sense that some of our L to R: Claire Niven and Michelle Provencher “The thing I love about school is that you’re always meeting new people and alumni continue this love that’s true of the work force, too. But “Claire has been fabulous I love the fact that you have discretion affair as an expat living to work with,” says Michelle over your own schedule.There are a lot Provencher, one of her of pros to school.” overseas. supervisors. Some, like David Burke

interviewers. She’s taken a lot of own- Here is a list of some of our U of A School in China and Cameron ership and she did that very early on into of Business grads and students at GE. Duncan in Africa, have her co-op term, which is more than we’d Business Cooperative expected from a student.” chosen a different conti- That’s all the more impressive con- Education Program September to December 2004 sidering that Niven’s co-op experience nent altogether to live almost never got off the ground. She ap- GE Fanuc Automation Maureen Arcila-Arenas plied for her first placement after her and work on. Others, like second year in part because she’d been GE Consumer Finance Claire Niven impressed with the great jobs her Priya Saraswati, stayed GE Capital Equipment Financing brother had gotten as part of his Faculty Zachary Solikoski; Lan Trang on the North American of Engineering Co-op placements. GE Medical Systems Because she didn’t have connections Shirley Ngo continent but she hopes in the business world, she felt the co-op program was the best way for her to get Permanent Employees to make her mark in the experience. But she was applying from GE Consumer Finance Austria where she’d done an exchange Michelle Provencher international fashion program and she didn’t get any offers. Jennifer Wiebe Upon returning to Edmonton, she ap- Chris Williams industry. All three serve plied for summer jobs, but the com- Nicole Asselin petition was stiffer and, once again, she Renee Amyotte as wonderful role models was unsuccessful. Kelly Blackett “I was in that vicious cycle where you Jenny Chen to our current students Tim Fairbanks can’t get a job because you don’t have Elaine Siu experience and you can’t get experience who are debating what because you can’t get a job,” she says. GE Fanuc Automation to do after graduation “I was almost ready to leave the co-op Jeff Lucente program, but then I realized that if I and where. couldn’t even get a job within the co- GE Capital Equipment Financing op program, how was I going to get a Erin Johnson; Chad Fisk; Cory Pfannmuller job in the real world? The experience was truly a lesson in persistence for me.”

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Around the World Three graduates, three degrees, three continents

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Canada’s Defence Attaché to China

BY WANDA VIVEQUIN

At 1.9 metres tall, Colonel David Burke, ’98 EMBA, who is Canada’s Defense Attaché to China and Mongolia, more than stands out in a crowded Oriental market. In fact, sometimes, when the frustra- tions of living in the world’s most populous country really get to him, he literally takes matters into his own hands. Colonel David’98 EMBA, Burke China “China is fairly unique given the fact it is a communist state with the party having many fingers in policy and the di- “Chinese people really have rection of the military,” Burke says. no concept of lining up in an orderly way China is Canada’s third-largest trading partner and is cur- and, every now and then, I have been rently its largest source of immigrants. known to physically lift someone back to School of Business Professor Rolf Mirus, who has visited where they were standing behind me,” Burke, says, that for Canadian exporters, there was no more Colonel Burke says from Beijing.“I tower of a dynamic and challenging market than China. “The dy- above everyone else so it is not difficult to do,” he laughs. namics are clear: China’s economy has grown by nearly ten After more than three and a half decades in the Cana- percent annually in recent years.That growth is reflected dian military,Burke has decided to make China his last post- in the fact that, as of very recently, China’s imports have ing and will retire this year. Burke says while he never imag- exceeded her exports with Canadian merchandise exports ined he would spend his entire working life in the military, to that country showing 75 percent growth in nominal value he has no regrets. “I have been remarkably lucky and it has for 1999-2003,” Mirus says.“This means an average growth been a most excellent job,” he says. rate of 16 percent per year,” he adds. Burke and his Australian-born wife Penny moved to China For Burke, staying on top of current issues in China and in 2000, leaving sparsely populated Canada for the crush fostering relations with the military remain top of his list of Beijing and its 14 million inhabitants. Both are fluent in of priorities. One interesting fact he likes to point out is Mandarin and, as active outdoor people, use their free time that China now has more troops involved in the United Na- to explore attractions off the beaten track near the city.“We tions peacekeeping forces than Canada. “Our contributions escape to the mountains often and will drive about 60 km to as Canadians are still in demand, but we are no longer the go walking on some of the wilder parts of the Great Wall peacekeepers we were,” he says.As a measure of good bi- of China,” Burke says. lateral relations, Burke says there are now Chinese students As a trained civil engineer and amateur historian, Burke studying peacekeeping in Canada. says visiting this remarkable 4500-mile Travelling with the Chinese Peoples Lib- structure built over 2000 years ago to pro- eration Army (PLA) has been one of the tect the Chinese from northern invasions Burke's main responsi- more unusual experiences for Burke. “The always fills him with awe and admiration. PLA is an army of the Party and is therefore As a Defence attaché, Burke is respon- bility is to get to know treated differently than any other organi- sible for establishing and maintaining re- and understand the is- zations,” he says. “You are talking about a lationships with the military of China and sues that motivate and massive entourage of buses and escorts and Mongolia. Canada has no military forces drive the military and travelling with them is much simpler than in the region but does have a strong diplo- trying to navigate through the bureaucracy matic presence especially in China. its relations with the on your own,” he adds. government. Reflecting back on his first visit to China

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in 1998 as an executive MBA student, Burke How will China fare having infections, firing top officials, and, says much has changed, most notably, pol- in 2008 when Beijing then, also pushing down the responsibil- lution levels in Beijing.Thousands of poplars hosts the Olympics ity onto the villages,” he says.“It was a frus- have since been planted and he says there trating time to be in China and I don’t think are now far fewer days when he is not able for the first time in we will ever know the full extent of what to see the mountains to the west of the city. history? “They will be happened,” he adds. Burke was part of the second Executive ready and will do an Colonel Burke’s posting has also taken MBA program run in conjunction with the him to Mongolia, a country friendly with University of Calgary. “It was a marvelous amazing job.” Canada that reminds him very much of Al- course, very well designed, and, in many berta, he says. ways, drew on the strength of both business One last question for Colonel Burke:

schools,” he says. How will China fare in 2008 when Beijing hosts the Olympics AROUND THE WORLD Burke did his MBA while still working as Area Engineer for the first time in history? “They will be ready and will in the Land Force Western Area Headquarters based in Ed- do an amazing job,” Colonel Burke says without hesitation, monton. “I was thinking of post-service employment and having lived and jostled for space in Beijing, and it is hard it is not such a good thing when someone asks you when you not to believe him. did your last degree and you have to go back to somewhere in the 80s,” he says. Burke’s last degree had, in fact, been undertaken as a stu- dent at the Pakistan Army Staff College in Quetta in 1984. He obtained his Bachelor of Science with Honours from the Pursuing your University of Baluchistan majoring in War Studies. His stud- ies were part of an old Commonwealth exchange program, a vestige of colonial ties with India predating the 1947 sep- Passion aration with Pakistan. Time in Pakistan was a real highlight for Burke and his wife BY CARRIE POHL who filled their spare time playing polo and exploring the countryside in the shadow of the world’s highest mountains. Even as a little girl, Priya was passionate Back in Edmonton doing his MBA, things were a little dif- about the fashion industry. She also had ferent as he juggled raising two young sons, working for the military, and studying. “I lived in the spare bedroom a strong desire to build her own company. and really only ever had Saturday nights off from study,” he says. However, translating this dream into a reality After graduating in 1998, he told the military he wanted was an enormous challenge. to leave and they came back to him with the position in China, an offer he says was just too good to refuse. “They offered me promotion to full Colonel and, when we worked out the In 1997, Priya Saraswati received net present value of all the options, we decided on China,” her Bachelor of Commerce degree from he says enthusiastically. the School of Business at the University Mandarin lessons with Penny followed and, of Alberta where she majored in Japan in 2000, they headed east after Studies. She participated in an exchange deciding it was best for their two program in her third year with the Sophia teenage sons Alistair and Robert University in Tokyo.“My year in Tokyo was one of the great- to stay in Canada.The boys have est experiences of my life. I would recommend it to any- visited China several times and en- one. I was completely thrown into another culture and lan- joy the contrast to life on Vancou- guage and it was sink or swim,” explains Priya. ver Island where they go to school. During her one-year stint in Tokyo, Priya met her future Living in China during the SARS husband Eric, an American who was working in Toyko at crisis in 2003 gave Colonel Burke the time.A few years after graduation, Priya and Eric decided a real insight into how the country to settle down in San Francisco.The School of Business gave handles difficult situations.“They dealt Priya the foundation she needed to land an exciting job in the with it in a real Leninist fashion by clos- investment banking field with CIBC World Markets. “It was

ing down all the villages suspected of page 12 >

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the ins and outs of bringing a line to production.This is also where she met her business partner,Yugala Priti, who was the women’s designer for A Mo- tion at the time. Approximately a year ago, the duo officially joined forces to launch a fashion design company, Saffron Rare Threads LLC. Priya’s business background nicely com- plemented Yugala’s style of design. “Many designers have great design ideas, but they lose out because they don’t know how to run the business. This is a very important part of the equation, especially given the highly- competitive nature of the industry,” ex- plains Priya. The two young women have created a line of garments that targets professional women who want day-to-night versatil- ity.The team’s goal is to double sales each season and they are off to a good start with their collection hitting seven stores this fall. The main sales thrust will be centred on wholesale sales to retail stores. However,per- sonalized fittings for individual women, oth- erwise known as trunk shows, have also been extremely Priya Saraswati valuable in providing im- ’97 BCom, California mediate feedback. Priya is bursting with ex- citement as she describes her vision for the the middle of the dot com boom when there were Initial Pub- new venture. “I realize it will take years lic Offerings for technology companies almost every day. This to build a brand, but it will be worth the ef- was a fun, exciting time. I was flying from fort. It is a difficult road one end of the country to the other on a to success for a small ap- weekly basis,” says Priya. She was working “I realize it will take parel company but, with long hard hours, nearly 90 hours per week, each client we acquire rarely taking a day off.When the market years to build a brand, and milestone we hit, it tanked in 2000, the deals became much but it will be worth the encourages us to keep harder to complete and, in 2002, it was time effort. It is a difficult striving for more.” Other to pursue something new. than work, Priya also finds Even as a little girl, Priya was passion- road to success for a time to enjoy the Bay Area ate about the fashion industry. She also had small apparel company, with her husband Eric. She a strong desire to build her own company. but, with each client we specifically likes the culture However, translating this dream into a re- of San Francisco and the ver- ality was an enormous challenge. Priya’s first acquire and milestone we satility of skiing one day in the moun- step was to spend four months as an ap- hit, it encourages us to tains and camping by the ocean the next. prentice for A Motion Studio.This is where keep striving for more.” To check out Saffron’s designs, visit: she learned about the garment industry and www.saffronrarethreads.com

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for the former Edmontonian. He has bought a ‘fantastic house’ in an expensive suburb and spends his spare time visiting the Our Man in numerous game reserves in the region as well as enjoying the city’s fantastic nightlife. “I visited Jo’burg during my earlier travels and thought, Africa right, I want to live here at some stage,” he says. “It really has a good vibe and the people are really friendly,” BY WANDA VIVEQUIN he adds. Johannesburg is different from many other big cities in Two years ago, Cameron Duncan (’91 BCom) Africa because it was not developed around a major wa- said goodbye to parking problems, grey wet terway or on the coast. Its establishment well inland was based around the discovery of gold and, at an altitude of AROUND THE WORLD winters, and tiny expensive apartments. around 2000 metres, it enjoys a wonderful climate and su- perb access to some of the country’s premiere attractions – the big game parks. The sprawling city,now reputedly the third largest in Africa After 11 years behind Cairo and Lagos, still has its fair living in London as head share of problems, Duncan says. of market risk for a big “I visited Jo’burg during Ten years of democracy have seen London finance house, my earlier travels and some changes for people living in the Merchant Bank, he thought, right, I want to townships like Soweto on the outskirts headed for an extended of Johannesburg such as greater access holiday in southern Europe and South Africa live here at some stage. to running water, improved sanitation, and wound up living in a city he admits many It really has a good and electricity, he says. write off as having a terrible reputation for vibe and the people are page 14 > violence and instability. Duncan settled in Johannesburg, a city really friendly.” now regarded as the economic powerhouse of South Africa, but with a history check-

getty images getty ered by instability,poverty,and violence. “I know Jo’Burg has a bad reputation as a violent place, but there are some lovely areas and the quality of life is great,” Duncan says from his office at ABSA. He is back working again as a mar- ket risk assessor manager for a South African bank where it is his job to keep tabs on any potential ‘Nick Leesons,’ who might make catastrophic trading decisions for the company. Duncan says this is the easiest way to describe to people what he does for a living. He likes to use the ex- ample of former British trader Nick Leeson, who, during the 1990s, brought down the investment empire of Barrings with his bold, unchecked trading on the Singapore Monetary Exchange in the Far East. Living in Johannesburg has opened up a whole new way of life Cameron Duncan ’91 BCom, Africa

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“It is very easy to getty images “The fact remains that shelter yourself in black ownership of busi- a nice neighborhood, nesses has not necessar- but I think it is ily translated into more important to under- wealth overall for the ma- jority of blacks.” stand what is going “Black ownership has on beyond.” really just created fat black cats rather than fat white cats,” he adds. Duncan says he is learning some of the local African dialects and has visited some of the townships in an effort to better understand the community. “It is very easy to shelter yourself in a nice neighborhood, an attempt at conversation goes a long way,” he says. but I think it is important to understand what is going on be- One of the biggest issues facing the present government yond,” he says. was how to manage the generation of blacks people who have “Being able to say hello in an African language, like Zulu, largely gone without education as a result of the the most common tongue, and to make massive school burnings that happened during the ’80s in protest at apartheid. Duncan says, contrary to what many people believe, he knows of no one who sleeps with a gun under their pillow although it is foolish not to be vigilant in a country where deep seeded economic disparities and historical an- imosities still exist between whites and blacks and rich and poor. While Johannesburg may seem like just an- other big city,travel just beyond its limits and Duncan says it is very obvious that you are in a developing country.Cape Town, one of the world’s most desired travel locations, is an easy plane ride away and there are many more stunning locations in vast South Africa. “You definitely know you are in Africa when you head out and that is one of the most appealing aspects of living here,” he says. “It’s a vibrant and amazing place.”

Left: Cameron and his mother visit a game reserve.

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Strategy and Purpose

STORIES BY WANDA VIVEQUIN

The three alumni profiled here represent a career choice we have not featured in the past. Colonel Paul Wynnyk, ’04 MBA, is Commander of 1 Area Support Group; Captain Veronica Van Diepen, ’02 MBA, is Public Affairs Officer and a member of the Reserves; and Major Brian MacGillivray, ’01 MBA, is the COO. All three are stationed in Edmonton, Alberta. 1 Area Support Group (1 ASG) is made up of over 2000 military and civilian personnel and is responsible for providing a wide range of logistical, technical, and materials support for army resources from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in the East to Victoria, British Columbia, in the West.

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COLONEL PAUL WYNNYK

It is an unusual fact that Edmonton’s Colonel Paul Wynnyk (’04 MBA) can tell you almost anything you ever wanted to know about the ecology and life cycle of a flatfish.

or example, he can tell you about the gastronomic significance of a left leaning, upward staring flatfish F to a Japanese officer or the fact flatfish start their lives swimming straight up and down and then flop over either left or right. So why does a high ranking officer in the Cana- dian Armed Forces know so much about the topic of flatfish? It turns out that, in 1992, when Wynnyk was in Cambo- ment,”Wynnyk says.“We were at the pointy end of the Cana- dia on a United Nations Mission serving with a big group dian Army, fully resourced, and the training opportunities of engineers from all over the world, he was also responsible were outstanding,” he says. “It was a perfect training ground for feeding them. “The Japanese soldiers were very partic- and gave me a taste for overseas postings,” he adds.There were ular about this part of their diet so sourcing these fish in Cam- many more postings to come for the enthusiastic combat en- bodia was something of a logistical challenge,”Wynnyk says gineer from the small Alberta town of Breton who had an with a laugh. It was one of the more unconventional re- idea he would end up pursuing a career in the armed forces. sponsibilities he has shouldered during his military career Now,as a full Colonel in charge of the 1 ASG,Wynnyk re- to date. mains modest about his achievements and says his greatest At 40-years old,Wynnyk has already crammed a whole lot reward comes from seeing people come through the ranks of service into his military career and many of his colleagues and develop through their time in the armed forces. say he is destined for high places. Ask anyone at the 1 Area “There was no pressure at all from my parents to join Support Group which Wynnyk leads in Edmonton about their the regular forces,” he adds, even though his father Walter ran Colonel and it is the same answer each time. “He is a re- the local army cadet corps.“They thought it was honourable ally smart man,” they all say. 1 Area Support Group (1 ASG) to serve my country,” he says. is made up of over 2000 military and civilian personnel and Wynnyk believes a military career offers unparalleled is responsible for providing a wide range of logistical, tech- opportunities rarely encountered in other professions. One nical and materials support for army resources from Thun- of the opportunities offered to Wynnyk was to be part of the der Bay, Ontario, in the east to Victoria, British Columbia first major post-Cold War peacekeeping mission in Cam- in the west. bodia. “I knew nothing about Cambodia although I had seen Fresh out of the Royal Military College in 1986 armed the movie The Killing Fields which came out the year I left with a degree in civil engineering, it did not take long for the for Asia,” he says.“There was excitement and trepidation, and ambitious young Wynnyk to get his first overseas posting. it was an era of unbridled optimism with regards to the Shortly after graduating, he was sent off to Germany. “I role of the UN in rebuilding countries,” he adds. look back at that time as a real peak in my career develop- Cambodia’s history up to the time of Wynnyk’s arrival in 1992 had been horrific. In the 1950s, French colonial- ism gave way to a time of political instability and civil war, “There was excitement and trepida- made worse by spillover from the war in neighbouring Viet- nam. tion, and it was an era of unbridled From 1975 to 1979, Cambodians were subjected to a dic- optimism with regards to the role tatorship under Pol Pot. It is estimated that more than one of the UN in rebuilding countries.” Putting l

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million people were killed by Pot’s Khmer Rouge, which was “The classic picture of UN peacekeepers eventually overthrown in late 1978. For over a decade the country remained unstable until the UN was called in to help such as in Cyprus where we had opposing with the establishment of a fair democratic process and a forces on either side of a line and the UN rebuilding of the shattered country. For Wynnyk, Cambodia was a chance to put his leadership in the middle is now rarely the case.” skills to the test when he was told that instead of working as a mine specialist, he would be responsible for the logis- tical needs of over 2,500 engineers from all over the world. the economic development in socialist Vietnam over the same They arrived in a country bristling with between six and time period. ten million landmines, the highest concentration of these His conclusions were that, despite UN intervention and deadly devices in the world. Roads were in an abysmal con- huge injections of foreign aid, the Cambodians still lagged dition, pock-marked with bomb craters the size of Olympic well behind Vietnam economically. “Corruption and the diving pools, and, living amidst all of this was a decimated loss of human capital under the Khmer Rouge have had a huge population, psychologically affected by the atrocities com- effect,” he says.Wynnyk has been back to Cambodia once mitted by the Khmer Rouge. since leaving in 1993 although he would like to return again “It was hugely challenging,”Wynnyk says. “The only way to see what kind of further changes have taken place. we could get supplies to the units stationed around the coun- Coming back to Canada in 1993,Wynnyk then went on to try was by helicopter,” he adds.The only marginally use- spend 200 days over the next three years travelling to the able road fortunately lay between Phnom Penh and the coun- Balkans as part of the Canadian commitment to UN forces try’s only port at Sihanoukville although this was still a deployed to assist with the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. seven-hour drive away.Today, this drive takes just two and While the desk job was actually based in Ottawa, it also in- a half hours. In all,Wynnyk spent a large part of 1992 and volved an immense amount of travelling between the two 1993 in Cambodia heading the logistics section of the en- countries. gineering brigade and taking every opportunity to have a good Wynnyk says he has seen major changes in the way the UN look around the country. carries out its operations over the last three decades. “In One of the highlights was to visit the famed ruins of Angkor Canada, we don’t call them peacekeeping operations any- Wat, which is now an immensely popular tourist destination more but peace support operations,” he says.“The classic pic- although when Wynnyk was there ture of UN peacekeepers such as in very little of the extensive restora- Cyprus where we had opposing tion work had been started.“There forces on either side of a line and the were no tourists there and we had UN in the middle is now rarely the to be very careful as the area was case,” he adds. still heavily mined,” he says. Wynnyk says the variety of op- Today, Cambodia is a popular tions and flexibility offered by a ca- tourist destination and the coun- reer in the armed services appeals try’s economy has slowly recovered to him a lot. “It’s one career but but not as fast as neighbouring Viet- many different jobs and I am only nam. It was a comparison of these limited in what I want to do by me,” two countries’ economies that Wyn- he says. nyk chose for his MBA project for In 2002, another UN mission took the international business special- him to the Congo, which is a former ization. “My project was to ana- Belgian colony wracked by civil war, lyze the economic impact of capi- disease, and spill over conflicts from talism since the fall of communism neighbouring countries like Rwanda, in Cambodia, and contrast this with Uganda, and Angola.“I was quite ex-

Colonel Wynnyk in Cambodia with a young friend page 18 > g leadership to the test

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A civilian in uniform cited about going to the Congo and had lobbied hard to get the job,” he says. “Our role was to stabilize and moni- tor the situation in this country,and the issues facing this nation were similar to those facing many of the sub-Saharan nations,” he adds. Wynnyk says spending time in coun- tries like the Congo where the misery of so many caught in the conflict or af- fected by disease like AIDS or malnu- trition does not overly depress him. “I know that the work we do is good and makes a difference,” he says. It was while stationed in the Congo, however, that Wynnyk heard of his most unusual post- ing. “The army posted me to the Uni- versity of Alberta,” he laughs. In an un- usual move,, the army decided to send Wynnyk to do his MBA on full salary. VERONICA VAN DIEPEN His wife Marianne Howell, whom he met on a blind date in 1999, is a doctor who works in the clinical department at the Dentistry School. “I found do- ing the MBA an incredibly stimulating time,” he says. “It was great to be sur- rounded by highly-motivated people,” he adds. As for what is next on the agenda, he is not too sure although others agree he As a young girl in the 1960s Captain Veronica Van Diepen is on his way to the top. (’02 MBA) would sit on her father’s lap and watch the then very popular television series Hogan’s Heroes.

he high jinks of this ragtag bunch of cheeky American and British sol- diers in a German POW camp sparked something in Van Diepen who Tdecided she wanted to see for herself what life in the army was really like. So, as a 16-year old living in Lambeth Ontario, she enrolled in the air cadets and then in the army reserves as an armoured soldier.That was until the paperwork trail caught up with her and the ‘system’ realized that she was a woman and could not serve in a combat role. “Sure, I was disappointed at the time but now I am glad I don’t have to be out there with all those diesel fumes and the tanks,” she says. Twenty-four years later she is not so disappointed and says that some people in her office jokingly describe her as a “civilian in a uniform.”Van Diepen works as the public affairs officer for the 1 Area Support Group in Edmonton. She is a member of the Reserves, which means she gets all the benefits and official rank- ings that come from being in the Canadian Forces except for a pension. In re- turn, she retains a choice over whether she gets posted somewhere outside of Edmonton or not.

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“I respect the institution and the out blowing things up as part of exercises,” she laughs. standards and you know what Finally,in 1995, she began working as a full-time reservist in Edmonton collecting a bag of military qualifications along is expected of you.” the way which have helped her in her present role at the Edmonton Garrison. For Van Diepen,managing public affairs goes far beyond just dealing with media.The focus for her “I am a bit of a homebody actually and like to stay in Ed- is to get the army integrated as closely as possible within monton,” she says. Consequently,the media have come to rely the Edmonton community. Of course, the media manage- on her because unlike regular forces members who move ment required during a crisis is important, but, for Van Diepen, from place to place, van Diepen has become something of a strong public profile for the Canadian Forces and a good a fixture at the Edmonton Garrison.“They know they can al- understanding of what it does is what she strives for. ways find me here,” she says. Van Diepen clearly remembers the day of the “Friendly The involvement of women in the Canadian armed forces Fire” incident in Afghanistan in which four soldiers from can be traced back to the War of 1812. It was not until af- the Edmonton Garrison were killed by American troops. Eight ter the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was passed others were also wounded when a US jet dropped a bomb on that the Canadian Forces were forced to change their poli- their unit during a training mission.“It was a crazy time,” she cies towards women and combat. In 1989, Canada finally cel- says. “We were really quite surprised at the incredible level ebrated its first female infantry soldier. of media interest in the event and once a decision was made For Van Diepen and 60 other women enroled in the re- to hold a memorial event in the city of Edmonton, it became serves in the early 1980s it was, however, a little too early bigger than anything we could have imagined,” she says. and they were re-badged and retrained as administration One of the things that she was very thankful for during this clerks.Things have changed a lot since then and the oppor- time was the incredible network of contacts in the com- tunities and achievements for women in combat have been munity that helped ease the load.Van Diepen credits the amazing,” she adds. extra effort put into community relations by the Canadian Women now occupy the ranks of Brigadier General, Lieu- Forces in Edmonton for this. “Our big push is to be seen tenant Colonel, and Major General and make up 17 per- in the community doing things,” she says. Over the years, this cent of the Canadian Forces.Van Diepen says she loves be- push has resulted in the Canadian Forces becoming much ing in the Reserves.“There is just something about waking up more visible, involved, and, consequently, understood by in the morning and knowing you don’t have to worry about members of the wider community. “We now get regular what to wear,” she laughs.“There is also a requirement to stay requests for staff to be involved in parades and events,” she fit and that’s a great incentive to stay in shape,” she says. Once says.“We have people who volunteer at schools, build houses a year,the soldiers are put through their paces on a 13km ruck- for Habitat for Humanity,and are invited to K Days,” she adds. sack march lugging a 50-pound pack in combat boots and car- page 20 > rying a weapon. “I respect the institution and the standards and you know what is expected of you,” van Diepen says. “Our big push is to be seen in the Her husband Ross Nairne is also a Captain in the Reserves and is presently based in Afghanistan at Camp Julian and community doing things. We have has also had tours in Sierra Leone and Bosnia.“I send him care packages, we email and phone once a week but its part of the people who volunteer at schools, life, and I am actually quite independent,” she says. “I have to say I was really impacted by 9/11 but we have build houses for Habitat for Hu- to understand that part of being a soldier means going into the theatre of war,” she adds. manity... This all helps to build a Van Diepen originally trained as a nurse and spent a few years working in the profession but also keeping up with her better understanding and support commitment to the Reserves.“It was an interesting time be- cause, by day,I would be nursing and, on the weekends, I was for who we are and what we do.”

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“We are a small force but are comprised of well-respected and credible soldiers. We have a good name.”

“This all helps to build a better understanding and support for who we are and what we do.” It also helps to dispel some of the popular mis- conceptions about the armed forces. “I am con- stantly surprised about how little people know about the variety of work we are involved in out- side of the theatre of war,” she says. As examples Van Diepen cites the ice storm in Québec in 1998 where thousands of troops were deployed to help and the Manitoba Floods in 1997. She herself spent a couple of weeks as me- dia liaison during the 1998 Silvercreek fires in British Columbia where the army was called on to help. MAJOR BRIAN MACGILLIVRAY In 1998,Van Diepen decided to add another item to her bag of qualifications by enroling in the MBA program. It was by her description a “personal challenge” that took three and a half years of part-time study to complete. Major Brian MacGillivray (’01 MBA) is about as Colonel David Burke, also a U of A MBA graduate (see profile on page 10), played a role in convincing Van Diepen enthusiastic about his career in the Canadian to pursue her MBA.“It was the best time of my life,” she says. Armed Forces as one could possibly imagine. “There is something about sitting in the middle of a whole bunch of really smart people that is so inspiring,” she adds. Van Diepen admits that further study is never far from her t 36-years old, he has spent half his life doing his mind and is currently in the Local Government Management part for the country and would not change this for Certificate program at A anything in the world. “I am having a great time the University of Al- and I love what I am doing,” he says enthusiastically.“I can’t berta and is contem- imagine doing anything else and get a real kick out of it,” plating a PhD. he adds. MacGillivray works for the 1 Area Support Group based in Edmonton where he is Chief Operating Officer of the organization. On behalf of his commander,Colonel Paul Wyn- nyk (see profile on page 16), he is responsible for the co- ordination and control of logistical, engineering, commu- nications, and other vital support requirements for the 1 ASG. His training is as a mechanical engineer although his ca- reer path to date has taken him to places and into roles that he says have “saturated my professional goals.”As a young man

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I “You bring with y 20 u of a business fall/winter 2004-2005 business magazine fall04.qxp 11/26/04 11:36 AM Page 21

“Supporting the delivery of cated strategically on the Horn of East Africa left a lasting im- humanitarian aid meant we pression on the young MacGillivray. “Supporting the deliv- ery of humanitarian aid meant we brought with us a sense brought with us a sense of hope.” of hope,” he says.As a young Canadian soldier on his first tour, Somalia was a real eye opener. Until the arrival of the UN, much of the foreign aid de- growing up in Cape Breton, MacGillivray was encouraged to livered to this country was being taken by the warlords join the armed forces by his then neighbour who just hap- running the country leaving the population to starve.The US- pened to be the provincial Minister for Education. “I joined led UN mission entered Somalia in 1992 to support the the army the week after I graduated from high school,” he safe delivery of humanitarian aid to a country decimated says.“I really wanted to do my part for my country,” he adds. by war and famine. MacGillivray’s role was to work on pro- His work with the 1 ASG is another step in a military jects that provided protection to the convoys of trucks de- career that has taken MacGillivray around Canada and to livering humanitarian aid to the starving masses in the coun- international hot spots like Somalia and Kosovo. tryside. “The kind of work we are involved in has changed and Somalia had been a pawn in the Cold War and supported grown dramatically since the end of the Cold War,” he says. financially by the USA while neighbouring Ethiopia received “The paradigm of operations has changed and our operational money and arms from the former Soviet Union. Its strate- scope is so much more diverse with now an added empha- gic location along the shipping routes out of the oil-rich Per- sis to peace support operations and humanitarian assistance.” sian Gulf meant there was a keen interest in the area, but “The asymmetrical nature of the threats facing nations and page 23 > people means that that en- emy can be everywhere,” he adds. MacGillivray is referring to the peacetime support role that Canadian soldiers have become well known for internationally in recent times.“We are a small force but are comprised of well- respected and credible sol- diers,” he says. His own experience in Somalia in 1993 provided him a first hand experience of the tremendous difficul- ties facing agencies like the United Nations to get hu- manitarian aid to people in conflict-affected countries. “I had no understanding whatsoever about where I was going and the situation there,” MacGillivray says. Two and a half months in the war-torn country lo-

h you a sense of hope.”u of a business I fall/winter 2004-2005 21 business magazine fall04.qxp 11/26/04 11:36 AM Page 22

School of Business Goes Public

The University of Alberta School of Business publicly launched its fundraising campaign Building on Our Strengths: We will use the power of Investing in Our People December 1 in Edmonton and on the dollars we raise to December 2 in Calgary, announcing an overall target of $20 million. Now, halfway through the campaign, the School Attract and retain faculty of exceptional quality has already raised $11 million in donations from its many shareholders. Attract and retain top-quality students The School’s campaign is closely integrated with the University’s campaign and dollars raised count towards the University’s Strengthen our community overall goal of $310 million. In 2008, the University of linkages through the work of our Centres and Institutes Alberta will celebrate 100 years of service. In 2006, the Commerce program will be 90 years old. We have a long Make ongoing investments tradition of educating the leaders of tomorrow and responding in the technology needed to to the evolving needs of our shareholders. We hope that you, deliver and sustain world-class research and teaching our alumni, will join us in keeping this momentum going. G

Please turn to both our Campaign booklet facing this page and our Thank-you to Donors booklet inserted elsewhere in the magazine for additional information.

“To meet our goal, in the face of “The School’s aspirations mirror “This campaign is about renewal: Alumni Support: intense and growing competition those of the University and its about investing not in bricks and The MacLean Family – Bob (’75 for top-quality researchers, teachers larger vision: to be universally mortar but in people. Just as BCom) and wife Maryanne (’75 BEd) and students, the School’s cam- recognized in teaching, research, business reinvests its profits, with along with son Ryan (’00 BCom) paign will deliver a legacy – a solid, and community service. We are your help, so must this School. and daughter Michelle (’02 BCom) stable funding base that will help us proud of our future alumni – Our “profits” are our alumni, have committed to a very generous to achieve and maintain a critical our 2,200 current students. our students, and our faculty. long-term partnership benefiting mass such that it will render our With your help, we will enrich Reinvesting in them will allow us the School and launching what we efforts bulletproof. As Dean, and expand the experience these to strengthen our balance sheet.” hope will be a very successful I can honestly say that without young men and women will alumni campaign. our alumni the School would not encounter on campus, in Hugh Bolton be where it is today. Nor would it competitions and in exchange Campaign Chair Corporate Support: enjoy the competitive advantages programs.” “We believe that if Canada is to it does were it not for the foresight compete with other countries for Stanley A Milner and generosity of our alumni.” talent, investment,and economic Honourary Campaign Chair growth, we simply must invest in Mike Percy, Dean intellectual capital and provide an Stanley A Milner Professor environment for business to prosper.” RBC Financial Group President and CEO Gordon Nixon, after announcing $1.5 million to the School for family enterprise initiatives on November 2

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“We have a great life here and when I read about all the things people complain about I think those people should go to a place like Somalia to see what they should be thankful for.”

Storm in Quebec and in 1999 a posting to Kosovo took him away for eight months. “The professors at the University of Alberta School of Busi- ness were great about this,” he says. “People like Dr Jobson and Dr Rasmussen would say ‘that you are off to serve our country’ and, as such, were very accommodating to all of us,” he says. “I think the people at the school are incredibly sup- portive of the military.” Of his time in Kosovo, where MacGillivray was respon- when the Soviet Union withdrew its resources so too did the sible for coordinating the tactical-level provision of logis- USA. tics and movement of 1300 troops, he also has very strong Involvement in Somalia ended disastrously for both Cana- memories. “We were all apprehensive since we expected dian and American troops.The now infamous ‘Black Hawk NATO to utilize the United Nations Section 6 powers to en- Down’ incident forced the Americans out of the country and force the security in Kosovo ,” he says. “But you are seen as the Somalia incident in which Canadian soldiers were charged the liberators and you bring with you a sense of hope to with torturing local people caught breaking into one of their the people.” storerooms spelled the end of their involvement. MacGillivray says his frequent absences from class also re- He said travel into the countryside provided some of the quired a high level of trust in him by the faculty especially for most vivid memories: scores of children appearing from delayed exams and assignments. “They knew where I was, behind the scrubby bushes and marveling at the taste of sleeping in a hole somewhere without power so it was un- cold water for the first time. likely I would be able to cheat,” he laughs. He finally com- As a father of two young children now, MacGillivray says pleted his MBA in 2001 and was hoping for a holiday with his it would be hard for him to go to a place like Somalia now. wife Heather who is a nurse at the U of A hospital, but their “We have so much to be thankful for here in Canada and some- daughter Siobhan had different plans. times it takes a trip to a place like Somalia or the former She was born the day after he finished his last exam. “So Yugoslavia to make you realise this,” he says. much for a break and, of course, a very big change in fo- MacGillivray eventually enrolled in a part-time MBA in cus,” he says. 1997 and, although he took a little longer than most, there MacGillivray is on the move again from Edmonton, this were a number of extraordinary reasons for this.“It took me time to Central Canada although there had been prospects four and a half or five years to finish my MBA part time,” for an adventure in the Pacific until quite recently. he says. No sooner had MacGillivray been accepted into “We were supposed to be going to New Zealand, but now the program when he was called to help with the Manitoba we are off to Ottawa.” floods of 1997 that drowned huge swaths of land in and around Winnipeg. In 1998, his studies were interrupted by the Ice

“I love what I am doing.”

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Phil Soper in Toronto by alan findlay

Perched a top Toronto’s Don Valley and overlooking much of the city’s central landscape, Phil Soper’s (‘84 BCom) sweeping, corner office view is pretty much what you’d expect for the President and CEO of Royal LePage.Across the valley and down into the city’s core is much of the area where Albert E. LePage would have revolutionized the industry 90 years ago by simply driving clients to and from prospective homes and listing properties in the local newspapers.Trying to sell some of that same land and much, much more in the 21st Century, Soper has spent the last two years leading the company’s army of 10,700 realtors into a vastly different real estate landscape where clients are looking for a lot more than just a lift.

itting back in his office with a morning cup of cof- fee and reflecting on the challenges before him and the road behind, his unconventional climb up The many the corporate ladder seems a natural fit for an in- dustryS leader facing so much change. From helping to save the neighborhood of North Garneau from the wreck- ing ball as a student to taking on assignments in seem- Meet two high achievers ingly dead-end departments that other young managers chose to whistle past, Soper has proven himself a change who enjoy making their agent who doesn’t shy away from a challenge. mark in the burgeoning “Taking risks has always been a defining character- real estate market. istic in my career and it in- evitably worked out,” he says. “It reinvigorated me and gave me opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had.” Soper’s time at the U of A was a colourful begin- ning to his career.After a freshman year of literally leading the party on Hen- day Hall’s most rambunc- tious floor, he went on to become President of the

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getty images “Taking risks has always been a defining charac- teristic in my Students’ Union at a time career and it when the bloated organi- inevitably zation was deeply in debt worked out.” and badly in need of an overhaul.Winning a hard-fought election campaign with a slate of fiscally-minded, political underdogs, Soper and his SU executive took what was re- putedly the largest student-run business in North America (including a bowling alley, curling rink, and more than 200 unionized employees) and rad- ically reformed it into a core set of affordable student services. “It was a fascinating time,” he recalls.“You make a ton of mistakes. I learned how critical it was to focus on the problem you’re trying to solve and not to let it get personal.” Inside the classroom, he best remembers the professors whose lectures taught outside the text- book and instilled in him the importance of main- taining a good rapport with employees. “Some business leaders maintain you have to be distant,” Soper says. “I’ve always maintained if you show them your human side you can develop ndaries a level of trust.They can trust in you and you can trust in them.” He began his career on a much different track y Faces of from real estate, working with IBM in the mid ‘80s as a systems engineer.It was the ideal job with the perfect company for someone who loved all things technical. Real Estate “I was always fascinated with computers.When I was in high school, I used to order computer parts from the back of comic books and wire them together to make them work.” It wasn’t until Soper took part in a company program that arranged lunches between employ- ees and senior executives that his career path sud- denly veered from the technical route to business. “We left the meeting and the VP went to my manager and said,‘This guy’s not an engineer, he should be in sales.’” Soper quickly found himself in the ultra-com- petitive market of the late ‘80s, working on what he describes as an IBM SWAT team that would help different branches of the company win major deals. The pressure was high and expectations were even greater, he remembers. “There was this incredibly passionate desire to win at all costs during those days.We treated ev-

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“What we see now getty images is that consumers are much more educated on what’s available. ery single deal we did as if the fate of the entire company de- They tend to pended on it. I don’t think there was a better training ground make their deci- in the world.” sions quicker.” He later witnessed first hand the difficult choices a cor- porate leader must make as new competitors emerged in the world of personal computers and the Internet to challenge IBM’s dominance. Com- pany-owned country clubs were closed and fringe benefits slashed as Bill Ether- ington (now chairman of the CIBC) rightly predicted the difficult times ahead. “What I learned during that time was that a business leader has to do what it takes and make unpopular decisions when you know it’s the right thing to do.” By the mid ‘90s, Soper took a risky assignment heading up what was viewed at the time as a “backwash area for rejects and people who couldn’t get along “In commercial with others” — IBM’s nascent IT professional services business. Soper and company set up networking partnerships with emerging players such real estate, you get as Cisco and Nortel and soon saw double-digit revenue growth for their ser- vices division at a time when IBM’s traditional hardware business was strug- the opportunity gling. Over the next few years, his business grew to over $200 million in annual sales and created hundreds of jobs. to meet and do In 2000, Brascan Corporation came knocking with a new challenge: to integrate and manage two newly-acquired companies into their Royal LePage business. business with the The risk of leaving a promising career with IBM looked prophetic when the tech industry suffered its devastating collapse three months later. elite of the busi- “It turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Never underes- timate the role of luck in career planning,” he says with a smile. ness community. Over at Royal LePage, Soper began making wholesale management changes, toss- ing out old systems and processes for others he had learned from his IT days. This provides for “We have grown like stink both because the market has been so good and be- cause we’ve been able to execute on some solid strategies,” he said. a great learning Soper’s impressive results landed him in the President’s seat two years later and the title of CEO earlier this year. environment He quickly set to work, taking the company public (TSX: Phil Soper RSF.un),and putting together an eclectic team with back- • ’84 BCom and wonderful grounds ranging from real estate to online book sales.They • Students’ Union began the daunting task of training the company’s entire President friendships.” sales fleet of over 9,000 brokers and agents to hone in • IBM SWAT Team on the niche markets of 21st Century real estate. He said • TSX: RSF.un his days in IT impressed upon him how important it was • Provides leadership to hold people’s hand through major change if it was go- to 10,700 Royal ing to stick and not simply ignored in favour of old habits. LePage realtors A team of adult educators travel across the country to train the company’s agents how to capitalize on tech- nology and recognize the unique needs of clients such as the growing number of single women buying homes and the incredibly sensitive issues surrounding the huge market of divorcing couples looking to turn one home into two. And as the burgeoning real estate market continues to grow by the month, Soper is determined to keep his company in step with the evolving demands of its clientele. “What we see now is that consumers are much more educated on what’s avail- able.They tend to make their decisions quicker, they possibly look at fewer properties so real estate companies like ours have to adapt.”

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Todd Throndson in Edmonton by debby waldman

After a few years, he was promoted to negotiator where For someone who entered the job he specialized in the suburban office market. His first major market in the late 1980s,Todd Throndson,’87 BCom, clients were Standard Life As- has followed an unusual career path: he’s always surance and Canadian Urban worked for the same company. Equities. Seven years later, he was promoted to Partner and, a year later, he was named Managing Partner. hortly after graduating,Throndson was hired to work One of his favorite duties as at the commercial real estate firm of Graeme Young Managing Partner is helping to and Associates, which was started in Edmonton in mentor new negotiators and 1978. In 1996, the company merged with Melton Real new assistants. He advises stu- EstateS in Calgary to form a larger Graeme Young and Asso- dents contemplating a career ciates in that city.A year later, Graeme Young merged with in commercial real estate to get Avison Inc. in Toronto and Vancouver. involved at school and get to “Everyone has to sell Throndson is now the Managing Partner of the Edmonton know people. whether they are an office of Avison Young. He says he’ll stay with the company “It’s very important to de- accountant, lawyer, for the rest of his working days. velop your sphere of friends stock trader, or realtor.” “I’m very loyal and I’ve always had the opinion the grass is at an early age” he says, adding not always greener on the other side of the fence,” he says.“If “that it’s equally important to you love what you’re doing and enjoy and respect the keep an open mind, work hard, and be prepared to make sac- people you’re with, there’s no real reason to change.” rifices early on to get where you want to be down the road.” Avison Young has more than 120 brokers working from New assistants at Avison Young earn approximately $30,000 Vancouver to Québec.The Edmonton office has 17 brokers a year, all base salary. In their second year, they can either and eight assistants on its 33-person staff.As Managing Part- increase their salary or take less pay and share commissions ner, a position he has held for seven years,Throndson man- with a senior negotiator. ages and provides leadership to the local office. He is also ac- Throndson believes the life of a salesperson is greatly mis- tive in the brokerage side of the business where he provides understood by students graduating from university.From his professional advice to his clients who typically lease office perspective, the life and opportunities that come from a space or own office buildings. life in sales cannot be underestimated. “Everyone has to sell Throndson’s role allows him to get a strong sense of the whether they are an accountant, lawyer, stock trader, or business climate in Edmonton. Industries that have done par- realtor,” he says. “They have to bring in business to be suc- ticularly well during the past 15 years include construc- cessful. In commercial real estate, you get the opportunity tion, education and, lately, commercial and residential real to meet and do business with the elite of the business com- estate. munity.This provides for a great learning environment and The economic climate wasn’t as promising when Thrond- wonderful friendships.The golf in the summer is an excel- son graduated from the U of A. “It was a difficult economy lent benefit as well.” for business students trying to get jobs,” he says. Throndson is blessed with a wonderful wife and two boys. Throndson learned about an opening at Graeme Young He met his wife Kim at business school at the University through a friend there. He started as an assistant to the man- of Alberta in 1987. Kim is a fellow Business graduate (2000) aging partner and one of the who also has a law degree (2003).Their children Alex, who “I'm very loyal and founding partners. He did tours, is seven, and Jacob, who is five, are both keen students of busi- I've always had the cold calls, financial summaries and ness.The Throndson family’s passions are golf, skiing and com- opinion the grass is reports and also prepared mar- puters (the children’s passion). not always greener keting pieces and completed doc- on the other side umentation for listings. of the fence.”

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Business Alumni Association Formed in 1988, the University of Alberta Business Alumni Association represents 18,000 BCom, MBA and PhD graduates of the University of Al- news berta School of Business with branches across Canada and around the world.

branch contact list

Calgary: Jon Wrathall, ’00 BCom recentevents e-mail: [email protected] >>> For more event photos visit Fort McMurray: www.bus.ualberta.ca/alumni/events.htm Marcella Dankow, ’94 BCom e-mail: [email protected] Annual Dinner Hong Kong: Catherine Kwan, ’98 BCom n October 14th, the Business e-mail: [email protected] Alumni Association held it’s 16th Annual Dinner with guest speak- Los Angeles: Lorne Fierbach, ’96 MBA O ers Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray e-mail: lornefi@comcast.net Muzyka, Joint CEOs, BioWare Corp. and Co-Chairmen, CodeBaby Corp. Business Montréal: James Hanna, ’93 BCom alumni and their guests were enter- e-mail: [email protected] tained with the stories behind these Ottawa: Lee Close, ’85 BCom two unique, Edmonton-based technol- e-mail: [email protected] ogy companies that have experienced great success in their short histories. San Francisco: Dyan Triffo, ’88 BCom e-mail: [email protected]

Toronto: Paul Joliat, ’02 MBA e-mail: [email protected]

Vancouver: Derek Bennett, ’68 BCom Top, L to R: Corinne Warwaruk, Chris Pilger, Dwayne Stang, Adam Cook e-mail: [email protected] Bottom, L to R: Barry James, Janice Victoria: Brenda Yanchuk, ’89 MBA Rennie, Kirk Mahon, Glenn McEown e-mail: [email protected] Right: L to R: Mike Percy, Harvey Lawton, Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk

keep in touch

Please take a moment to update your current contact information and send a class note for a future issue of Business. Go to page 37 or www.bus.ualberta.ca/alumni/. Spruce Meadows Show Jumping Event, June 10, Calgary Left: L to R: Robin Harvie, Helen Jull, Ron Winkelaar, Sue Stanford. Right: L to R:Tammy Sky, Alfred Sorensen and Ilene Schmaltz

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Business Alumni Association

Other Events October 12 • MBA/Alumni Reception Reunion Days and Mentorship Launch September 30 – October 3, 2004 October 14 • 16th Annual Business Alumni Association Dinner November 10 • U of A Alumni Reception – Edinburgh, Scotland,

karin fodor with Dean Mike Percy November 13 • U of A Alumni Reception, London, England, with Dean Mike Percy November 13 • Dallas Business Alumni Lunch with Professor Joseph Doucet November 15 • New York Business Alumni Lunch with Net Impact MBA students Class of ’49 Dinner, October 1 Members of the Class of ‘49 and BAA Golf Tournament, September 13 their guests held a special dinner L to R: Doug Alloway, Terry Harris, Onware and Upward! to celebrate their 55th Anniversary. Glenn Mitchell, Ed Davies his is not a typo.“Onware”is a new L to R - top row: Keith Fowler, Ben Shikaze, Web-based application that will Gord Coulson, Bob Seaton allow the School to take online Bottom row: Bill Vanner, Doreen Lougheed, T Marg Sutherland, Illa Skeith, Don Hall registrations for some of the many events that it hosts. This simple and secure ap- plication will allow users to sign up and

karin fodor pay for certain events on the Web and represents a significant improvement in the services we are able to offer as a School to our constituents. For more information on this application, contact External Re- lations at [email protected].

Class of 54 Dinner MBA Liaison Members of the Class of ’54 and their guests joined Dean Mike Percy for a n MBA alumni networking event dinner to celebrate the 50th Anniver- was held at Characters Restaurant sary of their graduation from the in Edmonton on September 21, University of Alberta. A bringing more than 90 alumni and cur- Top row, L to R: Bill Tye, Don Fraser, rent students together for an evening of Dick McKinnon, Don Cross, Debby Carlson, mingling, catching up with old friends, Bill Stevens, June Stevens, Mike Percy. Seated, L to R: Lorraine McKinnon, and making new connections.The MBA Margot Wood, Bill Ferris Alumni Liaison Committee and the BAA would like to thank the event sponsors – Characters Restaurant, Deloitte and

karin fodor Touche, and West Edmonton Mall. Similar events targeted at MBA alumni will be held every few months - the next one is planned for February 2005. If you would like to attend in the future and did not receive notice of the inaugural event, Convocation Breakfast, June 9 please contact either of the committee co- Members of the Class of ’59 Business graduates and their families chairs: Barton Goth ([email protected]) or L to R: Al Cromb, Robert Johnstone, celebrate at the 2004 Convocation Breakfast Russ Farmer ([email protected]). Eva Gelmici, John Buchan, John Krall

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BComnews

Back to Business

By Chelsea Baron The fall semester has had president, business students’ association, 2004-2005 a busy start with student group activities, competi- tions, conferences, and other The Business Students’Association (BSA) fun to welcome students started things off in early September with back to school.

its annual Frosh Week activities: Cohort Clubs’ Fair (Jeux de Commerce) in January.Good Olympics, to stir up some friendly cohort luck! The Business clubs have been adding rivalry, Dean’s BBQ United Way fundraiser, to the dynamic student life in Business. The University of Alberta Marketing and a Business Clubs Fair. Association (UAMA) again held its pop- ular Grafitti Pub Crawl and is work- We also launched a new event to ing on an internal Marketing case com- help students develop a fundamental skill petition. October saw Network for for success in business: the CGA Golf Success, the first installment of the Suc- Series.This event combined a series of Cohort Olympics cess Series, which is a collaborative lessons with a corporate and student golf event started last year by the Cooper- tournament in early October and re- ative Education Students’ Association ceived very positive feedback. Our Sec- (CESA), the University of Alberta Hu- ond Annual Oktoberfest Beer Gardens man Resource Management Association was also successful, and, thanks to our (UAHRMA), and the BSA. Each club awesome planning committee and vol- hosts a seminar focusing on professional unteers, had significant improvements development. CESA has also launched after its inaugural year. a very successful mentorship program In the midst of the accounting re- that partners new co-op students with cruitment rush and the new co-op stu- veteran students in the program.The dent seminars (not to mention classes), Dean’s BBQ Management Information System Club students made time to compete in the (MISC) held a networking event with local round of the Inter Collegiate Busi- alumni in the discipline, and AIESEC ness Case Competition.Thirteen strong members just returned from a regional teams competed in the seven categories conference the proud winners of the and the U of A will be well represented “Spirit Keg.” There is more to come at the national level of this Queens com- from these and other Business clubs in petition.The School of Business also the next few months! Thank you spon- sent a team of students to the Dalhousie sors, guest speakers, and faculty for your Business Ethics Case Competition in support! November and representatives on the Canadian team at the Commerce Games L to R: Clark Barr (BSA) and Chris Ziebart (RMBS)

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BComnews

To cover the costs, Forest has had to look for sponsors.This year, he’s re- ceived support from dieselpusher.com, profile In the Fast Lane the marketing arm of Motorcoach West and Western RV Coach, which main- tain offices in Edmonton,Vancouver, by Debby Waldman and Indio, California. “We’re in talks for next season with Most School of Business students have to a few other companies,” he says.“It’s al- ways a difficult battle to get enough wait until after graduation to move into money to keep running – the money becomes as much a part of it as the driv- the fast lane. Mike Forest has been there ing.That makes it a unique element that separates it from other sports.” all along – literally. On the plus side, Forest is honing his business skills.“There’s a lot of lessons Now 23 and in his last year at the you can learn given the number of new School of Business, Forest has been people you meet and, once you start racing formula cars, also known as open- getting into the sponsorship side, you’re wheel cars, since he was 19. He was in- able to work with a business to find out spired by his father Ric who finished sec- how the relationship can work and how ond and third in the Formula Atlantic to create value for both sides.When I’m Series Championships in the 1970s. able to get on the podium, they’re about As did his father,Forest competes on to get television exposure.When we do road courses as opposed to ovals.There track days, the sponsor’s staff or clients are four levels and he is in the second take away some valuable skills.” level racing for PR1, which is the top Forest has always been interested in US team. business. His grandfather left Poole Con- During the season that just ended, on Finance 418. He’ll take it by cor- struction in 1952 to start the family con- he finished second overall in the cham- respondence and it’s the first class he’s struction firm, Forest Construction, pionships, which is a competitive series had to do long distance. which his father bought in the mid-70s. where the top seven or eight drivers Understanding professors and a solid In 1998, his father sold the company to qualify within a half second. It was his work ethic have helped Forest succeed PCL. Ric currently oversees the BC and best showing yet and he did it while tak- in his studies. His one regret is that he’s Northern Alberta operations. ing four classes. been too busy to participate in the co- A Finance major, Forest has always “It’s worked out pretty op program. been good with numbers and plans on well, but it’s certainly not “My friends at University have spo- a lifelong career in business. For the the easiest way to live a ken highly of it,” he says.“It would have next few years though, racing will oc- life,” he said during a re- been a good introduction to various cupy most of his time. cent phone conversation fields in business.” “My goal is to be the best driver I can from California where he Racing itself is a business and an ex- be,” he says. “It’s entirely within my had another race. “You’ve pensive one. PR1 transports Forest’s car grasp to make the Mazda and Toyota- got to be well organized.” to the 50-plus days of testing and rac- Atlantic series and I’d like to take a shot Forest usually studies on ing and provides the engineering, setup, at Champ Car.That’s a five-year plan “Once you start get- ting into the spon- plane rides because, once preparation and maintenance, but he and, following that, there are plenty of sorship side, you’re he’s in the race environ- pays for the privilege, which adds up to opportunities within the world of busi- able to work with a ment, he has no time for roughly US$125,000 a season. Once he ness based on the tight relationship be- business to find out schoolwork.When the Fall progresses to the next level, the cost tween the two.” how the relationship ‘04 semester ends, he will will jump to between US$300,000 can work and how to have one class remaining: and $600,000. create value for both sides.” an individual project based

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BComnews

profile Riding for a Dream

horses when Adams and her family were out of town. Balancing riding with a major in in- dixon zalit photography ternational relations was a challenge, but, with the help of understanding pro- fessors and hard work, Kidston man- aged to make it work. Based on her high school marks, she’d won a President’s Citation for her first year. By maintaining good grades, the award was renewed every year.She was also awarded a Business Alumni Asso- ciation Undergraduate Scholarship in Business and the William S. Ziegler Scholarship in Business. In her fourth year, she won a School of Business In- volvement Award honouring her vol- unteer efforts at the U of A. Jaimie Kidston and Out of the Blue, Pritchard, British Columbia, August 2003 As a result of her hard work and with the help of her coach,Therese Washtock of Summerland, BC, Kidston also by Debby Waldman “My marks went way up and so did earned a spot on the Canadian Talent my depression,” she recalls.“I really did- Squad, which is two levels below the Early in her second year at the U of A, n’t like it – he was gone from Octo- Olympic Team. She was also awarded ber to April. Except for the time I lived funding from the Canadian Athlete De- Jaimie Kidston, ‘04 BCom, took time off in the Caribbean with my parents when velopment Fund, which she used to I was nine, that was the longest I’d been travel to California last fall for her to compete in an international horse horseless.” biggest international competition. For her third and fourth year, Kid- In a field of 28 horses and riders, Kid- show, the Chase Creek CCI Two-Star Three- ston made a change: she took out a stu- ston and Blue finished a respectable dent loan, borrowed money from her 12th, which is impressive for a team that Day Event in Chase, BC. parents, and boarded Out of the Blue had been competing at that level for only with a woman named Cyndie Adams, a three months and had been able to par- It was her first show at that level, friend of her mother’s in Stony Plain. ticipate in the bare minimum of qual- she placed sixth overall and third in the In exchange for a reduced rate, Kidston ifying competitions. Young Riders Division, which made her did chores and looked after the other Kidston would love to continue with feel great. competitive riding and someday make The enthusiasm didn’t last long. On Kidston would love to it to the Olympics, but she’s realistic. her limited budget, Kidston couldn’t af- In addition to an extraordinary amount ford to keep her beloved thoroughbred, continue with competitive of work required at the elite level,“rid- Out of the Blue, in Edmonton. She sent riding and someday make ing is a hard-luck sport,” she says.“A lot him back to her parents’ farm in 100 it to the Olympics. of it is timing, whether you have the Mile House, BC. right horse at the right time. The

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MBAnews

Enhancing the MBA Student Now managing a farm in Maple Ridge, BC, and Experience looking for a job related to her degree, Kidston plans by Chad Elliott to return to school in the President, MBAA, 2004-2005 next few years to study either international The summer of 2004 was filled with many relations or law. opportunities for MBA students.

Thirty-eight students enroled in Olympics are only every four years; the Business 601 internship and whether the horse stays sound for the were placed in dynamic Alberta orga- Men’s Intramural Flag Football Team crucial competition or result and nizations in areas such as Technology whether you have the finances are things Commercialization/Hi-Tech, Govern- enhance the MBA student experience you can’t control.” ment, Finance, Consulting, Sports and at the University of Alberta.”We will Chances are, Kidston won’t have Entertainment, Natural Resources, and achieve this mission through our six op- Blue in another four years. Now man- Law.The ‘hands-on learning’ provided erational goals and use it to guide us dur- aging a farm in Maple Ridge, BC, and by internships is a valuable part of the ing the year. Good governance, trans- looking for a job related to her degree, MBA Program. Academic offerings in parency, accountability, and strong she plans to return to school in the next topical areas such as finance, account- communication are guiding principles few years to study either international ing, marketing, management science, for this year’s MBAA team. In coop- relations or law.Neither are conducive and organizational analysis provided stu- eration with the MBA programs office, to keeping a horse so she’s put Blue dents with ‘in-the-classroom’ learning. Stephen Hanus, MBAA VP Internal, and on the market. Phuong Ngo, MBAA International Rep, the orientation organizing committee “I had a loan to pay,” she says. “The organized a weekly “MBA Healthy Liv- kicked off the year with one of the most Bank of Mom and Dad said,‘We got ing Night,” where students participated successful MBA student orientations to you this far…’That trip to California in physical activities such as ultimate date. Orientation consisted of academic had been a huge goal for me for years frisbee, soccer, and football.The BAA primers, computer workshops, team- and years, and I was finally able to go Convocation Breakfast on June 9th was building activities, and social events. and it was a wonderful thing.I never in a success and well attended by gradu- Among the many new initiatives of this my heart of hearts knew if I’d be able ating MBA Students. year’s orientation was a family day BBQ. to make it and, when I did, I went for The MBAA executive team met reg- Families are an important component it and I knew it would be so much ularly over the summer to prepare for to an MBA student’s success and we money I would have to sell my horse the upcoming year.During these meet- wanted to offer an opportunity for fam- the next year.” ings, an MBAA mission was created:“To ilies to get involved.We also collected Kidston’s not in any hurry, however. feedback from participants during ori- “I’m not just going to sell him to the first entation to help with next year’s plan- person who comes and hands me a ning efforts. cheque,” she says. “I want to make sure The MBAA executive team has been he’s going to a good home where some- diligently preparing the differential fee one is going to love him and care for him.” budget. Randy Yu, MBAA VP Finance, Sounding less like a School of Busi- has been putting in many hours with our ness grad and more like the horse crazy new accounting software to ensure that kid she once was, she adds,“Sometimes our past and current financial statements price isn’t the biggest factor. MBA Orientation comply with university approval.This

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MBA News, continued… to its rightful home.We have had four straight years of finishing in the top three spots.A large sponsorship and fundrais- budget will be administered by the ing campaign is underway as the students MBAA and will largely be used to fund seek to cover the enormous cost of this our case competition teams. It will also activity. Katie Spriggs and Trish Mor- provide money for student initiatives rison, Co-chairs of the MBA Games such as orientation, conferences, inter- committee, have been doing a wonder- national study tours, and other related Net Impact members Melanie Bowbell and ful job organizing our team and are fresh MBA events.We plan to attend four case Jolene Ali adopt Robin Williams as an honourary off of an excellent Casino Night fundrais- alumnus on their recent trip to New York. competitions this year including Con- ing effort.Thank you to all who have cordia, MBA Games at Laval, Net Im- ern Bank and Trust; Christopher Robb, supported our team. If you would like pact, and George Washington. The Managing Director and Co-Founder of to support our team, please contact us MBAA and MBA Programs Office are Traction Capital Ltd.; Roberto Geremia, at the number/e-mail below. currently creating eligibility require- Senior VP of Finance and CFO of Board- The opportunities for MBA students ments and funding guidelines to help walk Real Estate Investment Trust; Pe- are increasing every year and, this year, send the most qualified students to these ter Robinson, CEO, Mountain Equip- we are fortunate to be involved with more events.Thomas Braun chaired the Third ment Co-op;Yvon Charest, President industry connections and opportunities. Annual Gay and Ralph Young Case Com- and CEO,Industrial Alliance; and Sheila We would like to thank the BAA for pro- petition Committee. Weatherill, President and CEO, Capi- viding the MBA-BAA student/alumni Already this fall, the MBAA has been tal Health.The presenters have given in- mixer and the BAA reception where the actively involved in making the program sightful and valuable advice that is ap- mentorship program was introduced.The as cohesive and integrated as possible. preciated by those in attendance.There MBA students are very fortunate to be New initiatives include MBAA-hosted are many more outstanding business involved with this program and com- town hall meetings, communication bul- leaders lined up for subsequent Dean’s munity business leaders.The BAA dinner letin boards, and a new and improved Forum presentations throughout the was also an excellent networking op- Website. Sean Kozicki, MBAA GSA year. portunity for MBA students. Rep, has been leading the charge to get Thanks to Billy Chan, MBAA Sports our new Website up and running to pro- and Activity Coordinator, the MBA in- vide better communication with cur- tramural sport participation has in- rent students, faculty, and alumni. creased significantly to include outdoor The Dean’s office and Cameron John, soccer, flag football, basketball, ball MBAA VP External, have already or- hockey, ice hockey, and two volleyball ganized seven excellent Dean’s Forums. teams (and that’s only first semester), Presentations have been delivered by which 25 percent of our students are Robert Mullins, Principal of Robert G. participating in. Billy also organized a Mullins Investments; Larry Pollock, very successful MBA golf tournament President and CEO of Canadian West- and is currently planning an MBA ski MBA Newcomers’Social trip for the new year. Jennifer Beck, MBAA Social and Volunteer Coordi- The year is off to a tremendous start nator, has done a fabulous job of orga- and the momentum is building for the nizing social events and is currently in- successes experienced at the beginning vestigating more student volunteer of the year to carry on.The MBA Pro- opportunities. gram at the University of Alberta School This academic year will be highlighted of Business continues to encourage with a January trip to the 2005 MBA alumni to attend our events and be- Games at Laval University in Québec come/stay involved with the MBA pro- City,Québec.Thirty-five MBA students gram.You can reach us at (780) 492- Blue Lake Retreat are off to bring the Queen’s Cup back 2854 or [email protected].

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aim for win-win solutions.This approach facilitated a strong working relationship profile A Passion for with PCA staff and resulted in value- added deliverables that were positively Canada’s Wilderness received. “Providing deliverables that ultimately improve the management of federal parks was highly rewarding and by Zanne Cameron Since 1997, Hanus has worked on var- ultimately fulfilled my personal goal ious ecological research, monitoring, of applying business fundamentals in the Stephen Hanus, a second-year Natural and managing projects, which have taken context of natural resources and pro- him to the most remote corners of Al- tected area management.” Resources and Energy (NR&E) MBA stu- berta. Hanus has worked for the Gov- Hanus worked with people from all ernment of Alberta as a Wildlife Biol- levels of the PCA organization including dent, has a background in biological sci- ogist since 2001 and has been living in senior management such as the Director Jasper with his wife Debbie since 2002. of the Mountain Parks Superintendents ences. In the Summer of 2004, Hanus was Having a strong background and un- and Chief Park Wardens.“I certainly met derstanding of conservation issues spe- all the right people and working within one of two NR&E students chosen to work cific to Alberta meant the intern posi- a Parks Canada management team would tion was a natural fit.Applying newly- be ideal upon graduation.”For someone on a ground-breaking tripartite initia- acquired analytical business skills to an with a passion for Canada’s wilderness, organization like PCA was “a dream this was an unbeatable opportunity. tive at the University of Alberta School of come true” says Hanus. He brought to Hanus has had few regrets in life.“Al- the position a clear understanding of the though living apart from my wife and Business. challenges associated with managing pro- the great outdoors for much of the tected areas and his own passion for con- school year is challenging, I have thor- The School of Business’ Centre for servation.” oughly enjoyed the MBA experience Applied Business Research in Energy Hanus worked on two business strat- and have never regretted a moment. I and the Environment (CABREE) has en- egy analysis projects, each of which was have particularly enjoyed the incredible tered into a two-year agreement with developed for PCA management teams culture of the MBA program – one the Henry P.Kendall Foundation and the and facilitated strategic management di- based on excellence, teamwork, cre- Parks Canada Agency (PCA).The pri- rections. Each project was approached ativity, and excitement.” mary objectives of this initiative are using multiple business perspectives to This year Hanus is VP Internal for the twofold. First, this initiative aims to im- MBA Association and was active in plan- prove the management of Canada’s na- ning Orientation week for incoming tional parks in a focused and strategic MBA students. Currently, he is work- manner through the incorporation of ing closely with fellow MBA Associa- better management practices and anal- tion executives and the MBA Programs ysis. Second, the initiative strives to bi- Office to develop differential fees guide- laterally leverage opportunity and skill lines to enhance participation in case between the Agency and MBA students. competition, conferences and other stu- In addition, this pilot program is ex- dent initiatives. Upon graduation, Hanus ploring a longer-term strategic alliance certainly looks forward to the oppor- between the PCA and the School of Busi- tunities that await.This would include ness.This has the potential to set the more time exploring the back coun- stage for a similar program with other try.“Debby and I have enjoyed literally Canadian universities. It marked the first thousands of kilometers of back coun- year the Kendall Foundation funded a try hiking and mountain biking.” partnership between a Canadian MBA program and a federal parks agency.

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classnotes ’50 1930/31 Evergreen and Gold Yearbook: “It requires no argument to convince University men and women that the friendships ’56 Richard Haskayne, of college days are amongst the most precious in life. And yet, without an organiza- BCom, of Calgary, Alberta, was re- tion such as the Alumni Association, these friendships would, in most cases, become cently appointed to the Board of but memories following graduation day, not from lack of interest, but through lack Trustees for the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. of opportunity to keep in touch with old classmates. Such an opportunity is offered in our alumni magazine. Each issue contains all available news so that it becomes ’60 impossible to forget entirely the friends of college days.”

’64 Jerry Kwan, BCom, of their service to the profession as appointed chair of the Real Estate ’75 Allan Mah, BCom, of Ed- Hong Kong, China, is the Execu- educators and legal scholars and for Council of Alberta. monton, Alberta, former Director tive Vice President and CEO of an the role they have played in ad- of the University of Alberta, Com- ’72 Bruce McCollum, BCom, independent business development vancing the cause of justice. Pro- mercial Property Management and of Edmonton, Alberta, was re- in Hong Kong, China, and North fessor Krishna, a former Law Soci- Parking, retired in June 2004 after cently appointed Vice President of America. He is also the sole agent ety Treasurer, is a professor of law 20 years in parking services and Property Management and Devel- representative for Canadian, US, at the University of Ottawa. He re- real estate management. Allan has opment at the Lauring Group. and China environmental systems ceived his Bachelor of Commerce since moved on to his next chal- and products and consumer goods from the University of Manchester ’73 Harold Kingston, BCom, lenge as a teacher of real estate (textile and furniture). and his MBA and LLB from the Uni- of Edmonton, Alberta, courses across North Amer- ’65 Robert Ingram, BCom, of versity of Alberta. He also received was recently elected a ica. Allan became synony- Edmonton, Alberta, was recently his LLM from Harvard and his DCL Fellow of the Institute of mous with a parking sys- appointed to the Board of Direc- from Cambridge University. Chartered Accountants tem that enforced its tors, EquiTech Corp. of Alberta. policies with sometimes ’75 Jody Anne Hunt, maddening efficiency. Al- ’65 Robert Sanderman, ’70 though he never budged on BCom, of St. Albert, Alberta, was BCom, of Denver, Colorado, shared matters of safety, he always had recently appointed as a Public his experiences about doing inter- ’70 Ted Zaharko, BCom, of time for anyone with a legitimate Member to Athabasca University’s national business with a group of Calgary, Alberta, was recently complaint and he always brought MBA students at the School of Governing Council. Business on October 14, 2004. Mr. Sanderman is a member of the School’s Business Advisory Council. in memoriam ’66 William Robertson, BCom, of Calgary, Alberta, was re- The School of Business cently appointed to the Board of Donald Gower, '48 BCom, Walter Mayer, '71 BCom, regrets the passing of Directors for Endev Energy Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta of Calgary , Alberta these alumni and friends: ’69 Virender (Vern) J Grant Gunderson, '48 BCom, Gary Gauthier, '72 BCom, Krishna, Josephine Gorcak, '33 BCom, of Calgary, Alberta of Beaconsfield, Québec MBA, of Ottawa, On- of Consort, Alberta tario, was awarded an Honourary Edgar Pullman, '49 BCom, Rick M Tanner, ’72 BCom, Doctorate by the The Law Society J C Ken Madsen, '39 BCom, of Cochrane, Alberta of Victoria, British Columbia of Upper Canada along with two of Banff, Alberta Richard McKenzie, '49 BCom, Irwin Hunte '74 BCom, other recipients. Each year, the W Boyd McFetridge, '41 BCom, of Ottawa, Ontario of Calgary, Alberta Law Society confers honourary de- of Calgary, Alberta Vincent Krehel, '50 BCom, Tom Mayson, '78 BCom, grees upon select members of the Dorothy Montgomery Bussard of Calgary , Alberta of Calgary , Alberta public and the profession who have ’45 BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta William Miller, '51 BCom, Laurier Landry, '79, of BCom, demonstrated extraordinary charac- Donald Grant Buchanan, ’48 BCom, of Calgary, Alberta of Okotoks, Alberta ter or who have performed good of Calgary, Alberta works of benefit to the public. Re- F Reginald Peacock, '64 BCom, Martin Mentz, '81 BCom, cipients serve as keynote speakers Eldon D. Foote, ’48 LLB, ’96 Hon., of Calgary, Alberta of Edmonton, Alberta to inspire the graduating class as of Norfolk Islands, Australia they begin their new careers. The recipients were selected because of

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his personal touch to many special functions. Allan has been active in the campus community in a num- ber of different ways and on > keepintouch < many different committees, most recently as Chair of the APO Council and as a Director of the Faculty Club. He is also an active volunteer with a number of city Graduate’s Name Year of Graduation & Degree(s) groups and is a Director of the Business Alumni Association. Address Preference I Home I Business Are either of these new addresses? I Yes I No ’76 Thomas Ip, BCom, of Ed- monton, Alberta, is proud to re- port that his son Jason graduated Business Address Organization Title from the University of Alberta with his computer engineering Postal Code degree this June. His other son will be graduating in 2005. Business Telephone Fax ’78 James Mahaffy, BCom, ’80 MBA, of Toronto, Ontario, Home Address was recently appointed Executive Vice President & Head of Corpo- Postal Code Home Telephone rate and Institutional Banking for HSBC. Preferred E-mail Address ’78 David Robottom, MBA, of Calgary, Alberta, recently joined the Calgary office of Stikeman Class Note (for a future issue of this magazine or to post on the alumni Web site): Elliott LLP as a partner. News or Comments ’78 Robert Wilson, BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta, was recently appointed CEO of Kingston Ross Pasnak LLP. ’79 Ken Babich, BCom, of Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, holds a position as Manager, Pur- chasing Services, at the University of Victoria. He is married to Michelle Koziol, a ’79 U of A Phar- macy grad. They have two children, Sharlene (19) and E-mail, fax or snail-mail this form to: Please send information on: Sarah (18), who are both E-mail: [email protected] G Undergraduate and Graduate Programs attending the University Website: www.bus.ualberta/ca/alumni/ G Getting Involved with the Business Alumni Association of Alberta. Ken attended his Fax: (780) 492-8748 Telephone: (780) 492-4083 G Alumni Chapters in my area 25-year reunion this fall. Toll-free in Canada & US: 1-877-362-3222 G Contributing to Campaign ’79 Robert Bietz, BCom, of External Relations, School of Business G Making a Gift to the School in my will Calgary, Alberta, recently joined University of Alberta G Mentoring McLeod Scotia as an Investment 4-40 Business Building G Other (please indicate)______Executive. Edmonton, AB, T6G 2R6 Canada ’79 Colleen Collins, BCom, The personal information requested on this form is collected under the authority of Section 33(c) of the Alberta Freedom of ’93 PhD, of Burnaby, British Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purpose of maintaining current contact information. Questions concerning Columbia, writes: “After School, I the collection, use or disposal of this information should be directed to: Director, External Relations, University of Alberta, School of Business, 4-40 Business Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6, Phone:(780) 492-1581 • Fax:(780) 492-8748.

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joined Premier Peter Lougheed’s Advisor of Napier Environmental tice and use of marketing research Energy Services Ltd. in June 2004. Office as his Research officer - it Technologies. in Canada and all members of the Octane is an emerging, diversified was the best job in the world. So Society abide by the Rules of Con- oilfield services company. The ’81 Walter Pavlic, BCom, when he retired, I did as well and duct and Good Practice. “The company provides services in ’85 LLB, of Edmonton, Alberta, went back to the University of Alberta School of Business attracts three main areas: facilities con- was recently appointed President Alberta to get my PhD in market- an outstanding calibre of students struction services, small diameter of the Canadian Bar Association of ing. I married my late husband, who are constantly challenging my pipeline construction services, Alberta. Colin Dodd, in 1981 and we had a thoughts and perceptions of and electrical and instrumentation son who is now 15 years old. I’m ’81 Brian Vaasjo, MBA, of market research. The dialogue services. Peter has a wealth of teaching marketing at Simon Edmonton, Alberta, was recently between the students and myself experience from the oil field Fraser University and I love it.” appointed to the Board of Direc- is not only insightful but reener- service sector having held senior tors, United Way of Alberta, gizes my love of the profession accounting and finance positions ’79 Owen Edmondson, MBA, Capital Region. and encourages me to think cre- in a number of different compa- was recently appointed Senior Vice atively. Banister Research has also nies both private and public. President and Controller for ’82 Dawn benefited greatly from having Peter is a Certified Management ATCO Gas and Utilities. Ringrose, MBA, of many students from the faculty Accountant (CMA). Edmonton, Alberta is ’79 Janice Rennie, BCom, join our firm in full-time, summer, the principal of Dawn ’83 Brenda M Leong, BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta, former or Co-op positions,” she says. Ringrose and Associates of Vancouver, British Columbia, Business Advisory Council Linda has recently been appointed Inc. The company has was appointed Executive Director member, was recently ap- to the Edmonton Oiler Community provided management of the British Columbia Securities pointed Vice President, Human Re- Foundation Board, which dis- consulting to the tourism and hos- Commission (BCSC). Brenda has sources and Organizational Effec- tributes funds raised through the pitality industry for 18 years spe- been with the BCSC for 12 years. tiveness of EPCOR Utilities. club to various community-based cializing in strategic planning, Since 2001, she has been Director organizations. In August 2004, ’79 David M Strong, BCom, marketing and quality manage- of Legal and Market Initiatives. In Linda also received her Certified CA, of Denver, Colorado, writes: “I ment. She is also the co-chair of that role, she is responsible for ad- Market Research Professional lived in San Diego from 1984 to Alberta Attractions Inc., a com- vising the Commission on securi- designation (CMRP), a new profes- 1992. During that time, I held the pany that represents tourism ties regulatory matters, exercising sional designation held by only a position of CFO and then CEO of attractions throughout Alberta. powers under the Securities Act, couple of hundred market research London Pacific Investment Group, Attractions Inc. won the Travel and managing legal and regulatory practitioners in Canada. a British-owned developer, in- Alberta Award for Innovating Mar- issues related to mergers and ac- vestor and manager of commercial keting in 2002. The company was ’83 Peter J Kraus, BCom, of quisitions. As Executive Director, real estate in Southern California also the finalist for the 2003 Na- Calgary, Alberta, was appointed she will be the chief operating and Edmonton. In 1994, I com- tional Awards for Tourism Excel- Vice-President, Finance, of Octane officer of the Commission responsi- pleted my MBA at the Anderson lence (Tourism Industry Association School at UCLA. I have been hold- of Canada) in the New Business ing the position of Vice President category. Dawn was named a Fel- Announcement of Development of Wellsford Real low Certified Management Consul- from Dean Michael Percy: Properties, Inc. since 1994. I’m tant with Distinction from the N married and have three children: Institute of Certified Management Our undergraduate students raised over $5,000 for United Katherine (7), Libby (5) and Robert Consultants of Alberta in 2003 and heve been recognized with a Way through various activities (3). We live in Denver and spend recently completed her Certified summers at Ma-Me-O Beach. Excellence Professional Designa- ‘special event’ award for their on campus. The award is signifi- tion with the National Quality continued active support for cant in that it indicates how Institute. the United Way. This award our students give back to the ’80 recognizes the efforts of the community even before they ’83 Linda Banister, BCom, Business Students’Association, graduate. This ethic of commu- ’87 MPM, of Edmonton, Alberta, ’80 Barry James, Business 201, the Operations nity service is an important tra- BCom, of was featured in the Professional Edmonton, Alberta, was recently Market Research Society (PMRS) Management Club, Manage- dition at the Alberta School of appointed to the Board of Direc- newsletter and discussed a variety ment Science 352, and all of Business and, although we do tors, Edmonton Space and Science of topics regarding the market re- the many business students not seek recognition for these Foundation. He is also a member search industry. The PMRS is the who contributed to the United efforts, I am very happy to see of the Alberta School of Business national organization which repre- Way last year and in previous our students acknowledged by Advisory Council. sents over 1700 research profes- campaigns. Last year, under- the external community this ’81 Janice Comeau, BCom, of sionals and educators. The Society graduate business students way. Vancouver, British Columbia, was, encourages the highest ethical and recently appointed Chief Financial professional standards in the prac-

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jor Wireless Carrier in a Service ’90 Pat Kiernan, BCom, of AIESEC Management/Engineering capacity New York, New York, was recently To all Alumni! for their Enterprise Customers. profiled in the New York Times. Pat (Focusing on the Fortune 1000 left CFRN in Edmonton eight companies utilizing wireless data AIESEC Edmonton years ago to break into the US will be hosting their annual Corporate services). I got married in 2002 market. He eased on camera at Breakfast on February 9th. This event will provide an and we just had a baby. NY1, New York City’s all-news excellent opportunity to network, spread the AIESEC word to channel, to moderate a business ’87 Steven J Glover, MBA, potential partners and recognize existing supporters. For more segment before becoming the FCA, of Edmonton, Alberta, was information or tickets, please contact Organizing Committee morning anchor. Shows like “Good recently recognized for his ser- President Kimberly Latos at [email protected]. I Morning America” and “Today” vices as Executive Director to earned Mr. Kiernan the distinction ICAA at a special fundraising din- of being the only local television ner on September 22, 2004. More newscaster on the Columbia Jour- than 400 colleagues and peers ble for overseeing the financial, Business Development and Opera- nalism Review’s list of New York- gathered at Calgary’s Hyatt Re- administrative, and technical af- tions. CCIM, an affiliate of the Na- ers who shape the nation’s cover- gency Hotel to mark the Silver fairs of the Commission and direct- tional Association of Realtors, is age of the media. Pat has recently Anniversary of the Institute of ing the activities of staff to effec- one of world’s largest networks of crossed the border from morning Chartered Accountants of Alberta tively enforce the Securities Act. commercial real estate profession- news to night time entertain- (ICAA). Proceeds from the evening, als. Douglas has enjoyed residing ment. He is the host of “Studio 7” ’83 Stewart T MacPhail, in excess of $50,000, will benefit in Annapolis since 1996. a reality quiz game show that the Chartered Accountants’ Educa- BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta, was marks the WB network’s debut ’85 Cheryl Synnott, tion Foundation (CAEF) through recently appointed Vice President, MPM, of in that format. Pat lives on the the establishment of the Steve Marketing and Business Develop- Hopkinton, Massachusetts, writes: Upper West Side with his wife Glover FCA Fund for Thought ment, of Parkland Income Fund. “At the end of January, we left and two children. Canada again to return to the US. Leadership. The fund is intended ’84 Scott Roszell, BCom, This time we are living in a beau- to honour Steve’s significant 25- of Calgary, Alberta, was recently tiful little town just outside of year contribution to appointed Vice President, Announcement Boston called Hopkinton. It’s the CA profession provincially, Controller for ATCO I-Tek. actually the starting point for the nationally, and internationally. The second official event of the ’85 William Charnetski, Boston Marathon.” Cheryl can be Congratulations, Steve! University of Alberta Alumni reached via email at BCom, of Toronto, Ontario was ’87 Robert Roth, BCom, Branch in Paris took place on [email protected]. appointed Vice President and ’91 LLB, of St Albert, Alberta, May 15, 2004, at the Canadian General Counsel of AstraZeneca ’86 Jeff Baker, BCom, of recently became a member of the Cultural Centre. Canada Inc. Edmonton, Alberta, was recently Athabasca University Governing ’85 Ian Glassford, BCom, of appointed partner with Pricewa- Council. The distinguished guests included terhouseCoopers LLP. Canadian Ambassador to France Claude Edmonton, Alberta, was recently ’89 Gabriel Lee, BCom, of appointed Chief Financial Officer, Lavendure, France-Canada Chamber of ’86 Brian Milne, BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta, recently Capital City Savings. Commerce director Florence Brillouin, Orleans, Ontario, was recently joined Richardson Partners and University of Alberta President Rod ’85 Richard Higa, BCom, of appointed Vice President, Financial Controller for ATCO Midstream. Fraser. The branch started in November Ajax, Ontario, was recently ap- ’89 Sean O’Neil, BCom, of pointed to McMillan Binch LLP. 2001 with a plan to reunite University ’87 Imran Ally, BCom, of Toronto, Ontario, recently joined of Alberta alumni and also connect ’85 Mark E Jones, BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta, was recently the partnership of McCarthy them with the France-Canada Chamber Tetrault. Colleyville, Texas, writes: “After 14 appointed to Board of Directors of of Commerce. The following School of Solid Resources Inc. years, I have left Bain & Company Business grads were in attendance: to become Chairman and CEO of ’87 Tom Borowiecki, BCom, ’90 Texas Wasatch Group, a private of Bothell, Washington, writes: “In ’98 Geraldine Escofet, MBA investment firm that controls an 2000, I came down to Seattle to ’01 Maggy Guirle, MBA Internet-based insurance company ’90 Joanne Anderson, BCom, help some other Albertans work ’00 Cameron Moore, BCom headquartered in Dallas, Texas. of Edmonton, Alberta, is now the on a project for Mi- Director of Finance for the ’99 Aly Virani, BCom ’85 Douglas Strickland, crosoft. It was supposed Greater Edmonton Founda- (Aly has since moved to BCom, of Annapolis, Maryland, to be a three- month as- tion. Joanne previously held London, England) recently joined the Certified signment. Well, four a position with Deloitte & Commercial Investment Member years later, I am still here Touche. Institute (CCIM) as Director of and now work for a ma-

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Home Sweet Home

recreationally and is also ac-

tina chang tively involved in coaching his son and daughter’s hockey and soccer teams. When asked about his future ambitions, Darryl made it clear that his heart is in amateur sports. “I’m more interested in amateur sports than anything else. I’ve seen first hand the positive benefits that sports can have on our youth from elementary school right up to the univer- sity level. It develops a person’s character. My participation in sports increased my self confi- dence and truly shaped who I am today.” Similarly, Doug has also been actively involved in sports in- cluding basketball, football and hockey. “Once my dream of playing in pro sports died, I be- gan to pursue the next best thing. For me, this is a career in sports management,” says Doug. In 1999, Doug secured a six-month intern position with the International University Sports Federation in Belgium, ’90 Darryl Szafranski, BCom, Darryl joined the athletics area in 1998 which allowed him to get his feet wet in ’98 MBA, and ’98 Doug McLean, upon completion of his MBA. He was one various areas of management. In the fall of BCom, are heading up mar- of the first graduates with a specialization 2000, Doug came back to Canada and keting for University of Al- in sports and recreation management. Ath- worked with the World Championships in letics at the U of A was like home to Dar- berta Athletics. Athletics. He was the coordinator for their ryl. He played for the Golden Bears as a international division and his main role was wide receiver while he pursued his BCom Darryl, the area’s marketing to oversee the activities of visiting digni- from 1986 to 1990. He also acted as cap- taries and VIPs. manager, recruited Doug last November tain his last year on the team and received to work with him as an events coordinator. the Jimmie Condon Athletics Scholarship for A position with U of A Athletics is a good Both men share a passion for amateur three consecutive years. fit for Doug. “I’ve gone to Panda and Bears sports and the exciting programs available games since I was ten-years old. Work- at the University of Alberta. “We hope to While pursuing his MBA, Darryl ing with U of A Athletics is a good see athletics more entrenched in greater worked part time in the Ath- combination. I’m able to use my Edmonton and the university community. letics area assisting with the business education and it’s tied Our goal is to expose, inform, and educate. football program. He was to what I’m most interested in,” The programs are tremendous and go well charged with getting the alumni says Doug. In addition to working with beyond Bears and Panda games. We have a more involved as well as running U of A Athletics, Doug also coaches lot to offer including a wide range of football camps for high school high school basketball and volunteers sports camps,” explains Darryl. students. Darryl still plays sports as a fraternity advisor on campus. I

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’90 Vera McCarty, of Edmon- strengthen their ability to commu- within the Deputy Minister’s office ton, Alberta, spoke at the June nicate and engage with one at Alberta Sustainable Resource De- lectures 2004 Convocation Breakfast at the another – paving the way for velopment. He started the new job Château Lacombe Crowne Plaza ho- greater understanding, collabora- on October 1st. “While I am look- Eric Geddes Breakfast tel together with Mark Kluchky, of tion and co-operation. Real dia- ing forward to this exciting new Lecture Series 2004/05 Edmonton, Alberta, who is also a logue between people of different challenge, it was a difficult deci- School of Business grad (’96 MBA). gifts, talents, perspectives, and sion to make as I have enjoyed my Established in honour of the late values is one of the most elusive time at Acton working with great Eric Geddes (’47 BCom) in recognition ’90 Kevin Yaremchuk, BCom, aspects in most organizations. colleagues and clients,” says Scott. of his long- standing volunteer of Phoenix, Arizona, resigned from And it is one of the most crucial. contributions as and commitment IBM after 14 years with that com- ’95 Pernille Ironside, BCom, Elaine McCoy, President of The to his School, University, and the pany to assume responsibilities as of New York, writes: “Since May, Macleod Institute of Calgary, says, Edmonton community. Vice President in Honeywell Interna- I started a new job with UNICEF “that the work W2 has done with tional’s intellectual property divi- as the Project Office on Justice the Institute has cleared a path Select Friday mornings at the sion. Kevin and his wife Delicia (nee and Rule of Law in the Humanitar- forward through dialogue resulting Royal Glenora 11160 River Valley Road Brokop, BA 1989) of 12 years are ex- ian Policy and Advocacy Unit, Of- in increased collaboration and 7:00 am – Coffee and Registration cited about moving to the warm fice of Emergency Programs.” In excellence among our team.”To 7:15 am – Buffet Breakfast & Lecture Phoenix climate but are leaving be- November, Pernille attended a reach W2, contact Phyllis at her 8:30 am – Event Conclusion. hind good friends and colleagues in lunch with other NY alumni and a home office 435-3305 or Deborah the Connecticut/New York area. delegation of U of A MBA students at 454-7466. January 14, 2005, Their two boys, Joseph (5 years) and with NET IMPACT. Speaker Erhan Erkut Mitchell (16 months), will also have ’95 Brad Ferguson, BCom, of ’95 Wes Zaboschuk, BCom, of RSVP Deadline – January 11 fun exploring the southwest USA! Edmonton, Alberta, was recently Edmonton, Alberta, writes: “After Kevin completed an Executive Mas- appointed to the Board of Direc- February 11, 2005, spending six years in the publish- ter of Science degree from the Uni- tors, Edmonton Space and Science Speaker Jennifer Argo ing business with McGraw-Hill and versity of Texas at Austin in 2001, Foundation. John Wiley & Sons, my clients at RSVP Deadline – February 8 and along with the U of A degree, ’92 Les J Creasy, BCom, of NAIT hired me in the Fall of 2002. this has proven very valuable in his March 4, 2005, Edmonton, Alberta, was recently I coordinate the Professional Sell- career development. Speaker Karim Jamal appointed Partner with Meyers ing Skills and Applied Sales courses RSVP Deadline – March 1 ’91 Phyllis Woolley-Fisher, Norris Penny LLP as well as teach Introductory MPM, of Edmonton, Alberta, has Marketing. I have plans to start Cost: $17.50 per lecture or ’92 Jason Lammerts, BCom, teamed up with Deborah Witwicki my MBA in the fall of 2005.”Wes $50 for all 3 lectures (prepaid) of Edmonton, Alberta, was re- to form a new company called W2 can be reached by email at cently appointed Senior Vice Communication, which offers edu- [email protected]. For more information or to register, President for Remington Develop- cational, training and coaching please email external.business@ ment Corporation. ’96 Blain Banick, MBA, of programs on the art, practice and ualberta.ca or call (780) 492-4083. New York, New York, was ap- science of mindful leadership. ’94 Scott Kashuba, MBA, pointed Chief Marketing Officer of W2 works with individuals and of Edmonton, Alberta, accepted a Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. organizations to help them newly-created position as Manager Prior to taking this position, Blain ’98 Julie Gagnon, LLB, ’94 served as Gray Cary’s marketing BCom, of Edmonton, Alberta, re- director for the past two years. cently joined the partnership of Before his time at Gray Cary, Reynolds, Mirth, Richards, and Attention all BSBS Banick held senior-level marketing Farmer. or RMBS Executive Alumni… positions at Strasburger & Price (1999-2002) in Dallas and McLen- ’98 Doug McLean, BCom, of nan Ross (1997-1999) in Edmonton. Edmonton, Alberta, who works as We have been looking for you! Right now, the Rocky an Athletic Events Coordinator at ’98 Susan Budge, MBA, of Mountain Business Seminar (previously Banff Student Business the University of Alberta, writes: Beaumont, Alberta, a Management Seminar) is trying to contact past Executive Alumni. This year, “University sport is changing Science PhD student, successfully RMBS will be celebrating its landmark 40th year due in large to somewhat to reflect more of a defended her thesis on September, the hard work and dedication of past executives. If you are business approach and that’s cer- 17. The title of her thesis was: interested in keeping in touch or would like to be involved in tainly what I find exciting about “Emergency Medical Service Sys- being involved. Personally, my RMBS 2005 – February 21-25, please give us a call (780) tems: Modelling Uncertainty in work experience since graduation 492-2736 or send me an email at [email protected]. Response Time.” Congratulations! has been heavy in sport manage- Cheers! Chris Ziebart (Chairperson, RMBS 2005). I ment and often people are sur-

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prised when I tell them I have ’00 Mike Loenen, MBA, of ’00 Brent Poohkay, MBA, and and learning environment the a business degree and not a Zionsville, Indiana, will be visiting Assistant Dean of Technology for School has worked to create for background in physical education. the School on February 4 and 5, the School of Business, writes: “In- business students here in I always find that interesting as I 2005 to give seminars on risk tel has completed a case study of Edmonton.” see many applicable tools I gained management in the energy/elec- the School’s mobile computing and ’02 Neil Eiserman, BCom, during my Co-op BCom that fit tricity sector. He will also meet e-learning initiatives and has refer- writes: “After completing my BCom, well with what I do today.” Doug with students to discuss careers enced them as best practices for I traveled to London, England in can be contacted by email at and working in the US. Mike is a the higher education vertical mar- search of a job. Within a few [email protected] and is Pricing/Risk Analyst with Aces ket. The School of Business is the months, I began work at a small also shown on page 40. Power Marketing based in Indiana. only Business School that has been boutique consultancy specialising in To learn more about Aces Power targeted by Intel for this type of ’98 Jared Smith, BCom, of high level strategy planning predom- Marketing go to http:// case study. Other “wireless” Univer- Edmonton, Alberta, celebrated inately for Utility companies. I acespower.com/. sities featured at Intel.com are Incite’s fifth birthday party at worked there for a year before tak- Boston College, University of Maxwell Taylor’s in June. Jared and ’00 Jamie Montgomery, ing a summer off to travel England British Columbia, Univer- Ted Kouri, also a School of Business BCom, of Uppsala, Sweden, and Europe. After my summer of ad- sity of Toronto and graduate (’97 BCom), started Incite married his girlfriend Cecilia venture, I returned to London and Kasetsart University in Solutions Inc., a company that acts on May 15, 2004. Congrat- began work for PA consulting fo- Thailand. This external as an outsourced marketing depart- ulations! Jamie’s sister Kelly cused in strategy and Project Man- recognition by one of the ment for clients that depend on works as an administrative agement, where I am to this day.” top global technology word of mouth for their growth. assistant in the MBA office companies is more evi- ’02 Timothy Wong, Incite becomes an ongoing resource at the School of Business. dence of the world-class teaching BCom, of Edmonton, Al- for their clients: researching, plan- berta writes: “I work for All ning, branding, and executing all of Weather Windows in their their communications activities head office location. A local from Web sites and marketing ma- company, started in 1979, terials to promotions and events. Olympic Fever All Weather Windows is the Jared can be reached by email at largest manufacturer of jared@surfincite.com. windows and doors in the ’98 Trevor Lukey, BCom, of Prairies. In Edmonton Edmonton, Alberta, recently alone, 60 percent of hous- joined the partnership of Veres ing starts in 2003 have our Picton and Co. windows. We are currently robustly entering the Ontario and British Columbia markets. There are ’00 over 700 employees nationwide with the majority located here in ’00 Brent Agerbak, BCom, of Edmonton. My title is Edmonton Edmonton, Alberta, was recently Home Builders’ Sales Support. My appointed Manager for CIBC Com- one year anniversary with the mercial Banking. company will be on Wednesday! In short, I am the “go-to guy” for all ’00 Cindy Lieu, BCom, ten of the Edmonton Sales En- of Edmonton, Alberta, trepreneurs ensuring orders are put writes: “Since my last through correctly. I also handle any update about my trip to issues regarding job sites such as Europe in 2002, I have ’02 Paul Joliat, missing, damaged, or wrong win- gone back to school and MBA, of Toronto, Ontario, dows and/or doors.”Timothy was obtained a public relations diploma - writes: “Things here in Toronto are good. I am married on May 15, 2004, to a wonderful complement to my working away on a few Olympic-related mar- Ginny Tsui and they welcomed BCom in marketing. I am now work- keting projects and trying to secure more. their first child Nicholas Jason ing in the communications field and The biggest thrill I had recently was carrying Wong on September 1st, at 11:14 enjoying the experience tremen- the Olympic Torch in Montreal. It was amaz- am. He weighed in at 5 pounds dously. Recently, my brother Peter, ing. I was one of only 120 Canadians to do so! and 12 ounces. Both Ginny and who is also a School of Business All in all, quite an amazing experience.” Nicholas are doing very well! Dad graduate (’98 BCom), married Anu is on cloud nine. Sharma, his high school sweetheart.

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’03 Rob Jekielek, BCom, of New York, New York, writes: “Things continue to go very well Business Alumni Receive Special Recognition and I have been involved in a number of interesting projects in- cluding recently running a project Four Business alumni were celebrated also a board member, executive committee member, and for the WEF (one of our large in- with Alumni Honour Awards at the 2004 ternational clients) African Summit finance chair of Northlands Park. In recognition of his service Alumni Recognition Awards held during to his profession, he was recently granted a Fellowship from in Maputo. Also, my stay in South Reunion Weekend. The awards acknowl- Africa was cut short as I spent the Alberta Institute of Chartered Accountants. edge the significant contributions made three months in Bonn, Media over a number of years by University of Peter K. Lau, ’75 BCom, is the Tenor’s German office. I’m cur- Chair and CEO of Giordano Interna- rently in Media Tenor’s New York Alberta alumni in their local communi- tional Limited, a Hong Kong retail City office for at least a year.” ties and beyond. operation listed on the Hong Kong ’04 Hwee-Cheng Tan, PhD, This year’s Business recipients include: stock exchange since 1992. A trail- successfully defended her thesis on blazer, Lau left a middle-manage- Donald F. Archibald, ’82 BCom, June 16, 2004. The title of ment position at a Calgary oil and her thesis was: “An Experimental Howard Crone, ’84 BSc(Eng), and gas company for a sales manager position with Giordano. Investigation of the Effect of Alison Jones, ’85 BSc, teamed up in Within two years, he reached senior management. Under his Accounting Discretion on the Re- 1996 to build the phenomenally suc- visionary leadership—combining Eastern and Western philoso- porting of Smooth Increasing Earn- cessful oil and gas producer Cypress phies—Giordano has experienced phenomenal growth. Today, ings by Managers.” Congratulations! Energy, a company that started with it serves more than 1.5 billion customers in 26 countries. A be- ’04 Jason Ding, an initial market capitalization of BCom, of Ed- liever in giving back to the community, Lau has helped build monton, Alberta, took a position $6 million and not even five years later sold for $800 million. schools for underprivileged students in rural China. with KPMG in September 2004. Joining forces again, they formed Cequel Energy Inc., a junior Jason can be reached at jding3@ oil and gas exploration and production company, which in July Peter C. Read, ’86 BSc(Eng), ’87 hotmail.com. 2004 merged with Progress Energy to form Progress Energy MBA, is a staunch advocate of the ’04 Jane Saber, PhD, of Tyler, Trust. In addition to their innovative business leadership, they University of Alberta mining engi- Texas, a Marketing PhD student, are active in the community and professional organizations. neering program, and he champi- successfully defended her thesis on All three were recognized in 1999 by Report on Business as oned the successful campaign that June 2, 2004. The title of Jane’s among “Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.” kept the program open when it thesis was: “Do you hear what I faced closure. He helped establish Harold Kingston, ’73 BCom, is a hear? The SESER framework of sales the University’s Alberta Chamber of founder of Kingston Ross Pasnak communication: Listening skills and Resources Industry Chair in Mining Engineering and was in- LLP. Active in the community, he is sales success.” Congratulations! volved in implementing a master’s degree program in extrac- a board member of WINGS of Provi- ’04 Andrea Tecun tion engineering. As General Manager of Extraction at Syn- dence, a second-stage women’s Olmos, BCom, of crude Canada, he is responsible for an operation that has more shelter, and the president of the Edmonton, Alberta, than 500 staff and a budget that exceeds $150 million. He vol- Alberta Diabetes Foundation. He is volunteered at the unteers with numerous community, sporting, and professional the Chair of the Alberta/NWT Chapter of the Canadian Breast Chancellor’s Cup Golf organizations. Tournament, which Cancer Foundation and Vice-Chair of its national board. He is richard siemens was held in May 2004 at the Blackhawk Golf Club. ’04 Valerie Trifts, a PhD Marketing student, successfully defended her thesis on June 15. The title of her thesis was: “Pro- 2005 Canadian Business Leader Award viding Access to Uncensored Com- petitor Information: Attribution- The 2005 Canadian Business Leader Award Recipient is Ross Grieve, and Information-Based Determi- nants of Consumer Preference.” President and CEO, PCL Construction Group Inc. Please join us for the 24th Awards Ceremony Congratulations! on Wednesday, March 23, 2005, at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. For tickets and information, call (780) 492-2348 or go to www.bus.ualberta.ca. I

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businessperspective

What business does the to a significant increase in demand over the next ten years. “One needs to forecast demand and plan for capacity,” says School of Business have Erkut. “There are a variety of complicated procedures to an- alyze and we are able to take a ‘whole systems’ approach to in the health care sector? the problem.” For example, CEO is examining MRI logistics, a one-stop service, but is also developing models to exam- Plenty. That’s the word from Professor Er- ine complicated multi-stage procedures such as prostate can- han Erkut and Dan Haight, ’97 BCom.Together, cer treatment. “Initially, a patient will see a urologist and then, after assessment, the paths for treatment involve a com- they run the School of Business’Centre for Ex- plicated and varying set of stages,” says Erkut. One patient cellence in Operations (CEO), which is an out- may need surgery, another may need radiology, and another may need both. reach centre for applied research partnerships CEO uses students under the direction of academics and in- dustry to perform the analysis, so for Erkut, this year’s recipient between CEO and Alberta organizations. of the INFORMS Teaching Award,* the circle of connecting research to students, to inform and benefit the community Regardless of the sector, the focus of these partnerships is complete. For Erkut and Haight, this is an exciting time is on assisting the organization with managing some as- for CEO as it breaks ground in a new direction. pect of their operations. CEO started up two years ago with For more information on CEO go to: a budget of $7K. Successes with regional EMS services led www.bus.ualberta.ca/ceo. to partnerships in other health sectors with organizations such as Alberta Health and Wellness. The Centre is now op- Dr. Erhan Erkut erating at full capacity and with a budget of close to $300K. Professor Vargo Teaching Chair “Health Care operations are fertile ground for operations Francis Winspear Professor of Business research,” notes Erkut, the Academic Director of CEO. The Director, Centre for Excellence in Operations three-year contract with Alberta Health and Wellness is to as- Punk Wannabie sess the impact of, and develop strategy for, the Access Stan- dards proposed by the Alberta health minister. *The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) is an international scien- Do we need more surgeons, more access to radiology, more tific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to urologists, or all of the above? What impact will more MRI help improve decision-making, management, and operations. They are represented in application areas as di- machines have on demand within the system? What resources verse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, the stock market, and telecommunications. – both human and technical – will we The INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of OR/MS Practice is need to provide quality health care in the given annually, if there is a suitable recipient, to a university future? CEO is examining the logistics

bluefish studios or college teacher for excellence in teaching the practice of around key areas in the health care sys- OR/MS. The purpose of this award is to recognize a teacher tem to help answer these questions. who has succeeded in helping his or her students to acquire Operations research (OR) involves the the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective practition- use of computer models and technology ers of operations research or the management sciences. An to assist in decision making. In this case, “effective practitioner” has respect for, understanding of, and CEO is using historical data to develop its the skills to surmount both the practical difficulties and the OR models of service in the health sector. technical challenges of doing good OR/MS work. Erkut notes that while processes in the Please note: The School health sector are similar to those in other also has Health Organiza- service sectors, there are critical differ- tion Studies (HOS) which ences. For example, health care is free looks at health care from in Alberta so the interaction between de- an organizational busi- mand and supply is not governed by prices ness perspective. Dr. Karen Golden-Biddle is as in a free market. Also, factors demo- the Project Director for graphics, the availability of new treat- HOS. ments, and other factors can contribute All for a good cause – 2004 United Way Campaign

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Business Advisory Council Members

Gordon Arnell John Ferguson Hiroshi Kurimoto Mike Percy Joseph Thompson Chairman Chairman President Stanley A Milner Professor and Dean Chairman Brookfield Properties Corporation Princeton Developments Ltd Nagoya University of Commerce University of Alberta PCL Construction Group Inc. Toronto, Ontario Edmonton, Alberta and Business Administration School of Business Edmonton, Alberta Chair Nisshin-shi, Aichi, Japan Edmonton, Alberta Mary Arnold TransAlta Corporation Carter Tseng President Calgary, Alberta Phil Lachambre Bob Phillips Founder, Vice Chairman, and CEO Richford Holdings Ltd Executive Vice President and CFO Vancouver, British Columbia E-Tech Inc and Edmonton, Alberta Roderick Fraser Syncrude Canada Ltd Founder and Executive Vice President President and Vice-Chancellor Fort McMurray, Alberta Roger Phillips Microtek Inc Hugh Bolton University of Alberta Director of several listed companies Beijing, China, and Taiwan Chairman of the Board Edmonton, Alberta R J (Bob) MacLean Regina, Saskatchewan EPCOR Utilities Inc President Guy Turcotte Edmonton, Alberta Karl Funke RJM Corp Larry Pollock President and CEO President and CEO Edmonton, Alberta President and CEO Western Oil Sands Inc Patrick Daniel Multitest elektronische Canadian Western Bank Calgary, Alberta President and CEO Systeme GmbH Bernard Mah Edmonton, Alberta Enbridge Inc Rosenheim, Germany Senior Vice President Steven Williams Calgary, Alberta Giordano International Ltd Gerry Protti Executive Vice President, Oil Sands Douglas Goss QC Kowloon, Hong Kong Executive Vice President Suncor Energy Inc Marc de La Bruyère Counsel Corporate Relations Fort McMurray, Alberta Managing Director Bryan and Company Gay Mitchell EnCana Corporation Maclab Enterprises Edmonton, Alberta Executive Vice President - Ontario Calgary, Alberta William Winspear Edmonton, Alberta Royal Bank of Canada Retired Businessman Paul Haggis Toronto, Ontario Charlotte Robb Dallas, Texas Jim Dinning President and CEO Senior Vice President, Operations Executive Vice President Ontario Municipal Employees Amit Monga Prairies and Western Region Ralph Young TransAlta Corporation Retirement System (OMERS) Vice President, Technology Investing Business Development Bank of Canada President and CEO Calgary, Alberta Toronto, Ontario MDS Capital Corp Edmonton, Alberta Melcor Developments Ltd Toronto, Ontario Edmonton, Alberta Rosemary Domecki Barry James Bob Sanderman President Managing Partner Randall Morck President Domtex Equities Inc. PricewaterhouseCoopers Stephen A Jarislowsky Oakwood Commercial Ventures, LLC Dallas, Texas Edmonton, Alberta Distinguished Chair in Finance Denver, Colorado University of Alberta School of Business Edmonton, Alberta BAA Board of Directors

William Addington, ‘74 BCom, ‘91 MBA Chad Elliott Robert Parks, ’99 MBA Executive Vice President, Canadian Western Bank President, MBA Association Marketing Consultant BAA Past President Community Services, City of Edmonton Russ Farmer, ’04 MBA BAA Vice President Al Anderson, ‘67 BCom Acton Consulting Ltd. Consultant, Alberta Justice Chris Pilger, ’90 BCom Barton Goth, ’03 MBA Manager, Communications Ross Bradford, ‘79 LLB, ‘85 MBA Goth & Company Inc. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta School of Business Faculty Representative Guy Kerr, ’95 MBA Patricia Porter, ‘91 MBA Aaron Brown, ’97 BCom President, Workers’ Compensation Board The Write Answer Manager, Portfolio Analysis, Financial Services, U of A U of A Alumni Council Business Representative BAA Treasurer Rosa Spadavecchia, ’01 MBA Harvey Lawton, ’73 BCom The Kachkar Public Relations Group Chelsea Baron Financial Benefits Group President, Business Students’ Association Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc. Paul Rechner, ’93 BCom, ’00 MBA Corporate Currency Trader Elke Christianson Darryl Lesiuk,’91 BCom Custom House Currency Exchange Director, External Relations, School of Business President and CEO, Pacific Wine and Spirits Ltd. BAA President

Jami Drake Allan Mah, ‘75 BCom Shelley Teasdale, ’01 BCom Manager, Alumni Programs, School of Business Consultant Business Application Support, Alberta Government Services BAA Secretary business magazine fall04.qxp 11/26/04 11:38 AM Page 46

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