Tim Lougheed
Like any good business person, Micheál Kelly set a list of key milestones when he became dean of the University’s School of Management in 2000. The resulting agenda might have looked downright daunting to some, since it asked for leadership in the research and teaching of innovation and entrepreneurship, seeing the EMBA and MBA programs ranked in the world’s top 100, and moving into a new building after raising $30 million and giving the school a new name.
“We thought at the time that those were relatively ambitious goals,” says Kelly.
As of this year, he has been able to check off everything on the list. This summer, professors and staff moved into the Desmarais Building, home of the newly named Telfer School of Management. Among those enjoying their new home are some of the 20 or so faculty members specializing in innovation and entrepreneurship, including six named professors in that field, such as the RBC Financial Group Professorship in the Commercialization of Innovation and the Deloitte Professorship in the Management of Growth Enterprises.
The name change followed a $25-million donation, in May, by school alumnus Ian Telfer, the largest single investment ever pledged to a Canadian business school and one that put the total fundraising effort over the $30-million mark. Meanwhile, the EMBA program has twice been placed in official listings of the world’s top 100 and the MBA program has been in the top 150 since 2004.
As satisfying as these accomplishments might be, they have only encouraged Kelly to keep adding to the original list.
“The momentum is there,” he says. “The talent is there, the culture is there – all the things we need to really take the school to the next level.”
Highlighting this momentum are two new MSc programs, one focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, and the other in health systems, which are setting the stage for an eventual doctoral program. Kelly points out that the MSc in health systems builds upon the school’s master’s in health care management program, which has a history going back some 40 years.
And though the dean may not be surprised at the progress that has been achieved during his seven-year tenure, he says that others are constantly surprised by the strong sense of social commitment displayed by current students and alumni. For instance, the Commerce and Administration Students' Charity Organization hosts an annual fashion show, which has raised upward of $100,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario over the last decade.
For Kelly, that social consciousness speaks to the nature of the school’s culture, which has maintained a hold on an alumnus like Telfer after 30 years, and which has taken on his name.
“There’s a lot of pride in that moniker,” grins Kelly. “People who graduated 10 years ago now say ‘I’m a grad of the Telfer School’.”
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