The AI Manager

Eric Windeler, BCom, LLD’15, has been awarded the 2017 Queen’s University Alumni Humanitarian Award. Eric and his wife, Sandra Hanington, founded Jack.org in 2010 after their son, Jack, died by suicide while in first year at Queen’s.

Brian Lenahan, BCom, has kept busy since retiring from TD Bank in March 2017. He completed a program at MIT in artificial intelligence and launched a startup, Aquitaine Innovation Advisors, which develops AI tools for business consultants and coaches.

Peter J. Dravers, MBA, celebrated his 25th year at CIBC Wood Gundy (York Mills and Yonge branch in Toronto), where he’s now vice-president, portfolio manager. Peter is pictured here with his wife, Christina, and their daughters on vacation in Turks and Caicos last year.

Jackie Roberge, BCom, became a marketing and strategic planning consultant after graduation. But upon learning meditation at 23, her career path shifted and she became a yoga teacher and life-purpose coach. Now, she writes, “my two worlds have collided and I am happy to say that the business world now seems open to the power of mindfulness-based resiliency training and even meditation.

Scott Dalgleish, BCom, and Alex Lithwick, BCom’09, welcomed their daughter on Dec. 5, 2017. Ivy Bella Dalgleish was born in Santa Monica, Calif. Scott reports that both Mom and little Ivy are doing well. The Dalgleish family is also moving to Laguna Beach, which is closer to Scott's work as VP of finance for a healthcare-services company. Alex is a VP at Toms Shoes, where she leads the finance team. 

Faizal A. Hasham, EMBA, his wife, Safeena, and two children, Khaleem and Zahaan, moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE, from Ottawa, in 2016. Faizal is an environmental engineering consultant in air quality with the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi. Safeena works for the health authority as a pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon.

Michael G. Wang, MBA, has joined the board of directors of GCC Global Capital Corporation. The Vancouver-based company works primarily in real estate, natural resources and high tech. Michael is a director at Royal Bank of Canada’s private banking and wealth management department. He’s spent the last 20 years in the financial services and technology sectors.

Aaron Lau, AMBA, and his wife are happy to announce the arrival of their second child, Freddie, born in October 2017. The new addition joins big brother Ethan, 32 months.

Ahilan Kumaraverl, AMBA, has joined Ernst & Young as manager of risk management and assurance in Toronto. Prior to joining EY, he worked in the financial services industry in the areas of management, risk and strategy. Ahilan is a board director at Future Sinai, part of the Sinai Health Foundation, and also sits on the board of the Warden Woods Community Centre in Toronto.

The MBA class of ’62 fondly recalls a favourite professor’s impact.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Francis Dermot “Derm” Barrett was an esteemed business professor at Queen’s. We were saddened to hear that Derm passed away in December 2017. He was 93. Derm played an important part in the design and hands-on education of Queen’s newly minted two-year MBA curriculum. A dozen of us became the inaugural 1962 graduates.

Meet an Alumna

Emily Chambers, BCom’09, MMA’14

During her time in Queen’s Commerce, Emily Chambers loved learning about statistics and operations research. That led her to return for her Master of Management Analytics degree. Upon graduation, she moved to Florida to work for The Walt Disney Company, where she’s now an integration consultant.

On Top of the World

Megan McDonald, MBA’14, goes mountain climbing to help soldiers and veterans.

Sixty-five years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the top of Mount Everest. This past April, Megan McDonald headed to Everest, where she met Sir Edmund’s son, Peter Hillary — a two-time Everest conqueror himself.

Blowing Up Best Practices

In a new book, Steven Goldbach, BCom’96, offers an explosive way for businesses to survive.

As principal and chief strategy officer at Deloitte in New York City, Steven Goldbach often works with companies wishing to transform themselves. One thing he’s noticed, though, is that businesses too often stick with the same old ways of doing things, regardless of the real value these activities provide. 

Chris Bryson, BCom’06, recently sold his company, Unata, to the American grocery delivery giant Instacart. Chris started Unata in Toronto in 2011. The company helps grocery chains connect digitally with customers. Chris will remain CEO of Unata, which now operates as an Instacart subsidiary.

Dave Jackson, BCom’91, president of Hydropool, Canada’s largest hot tub and swim-spa manufacturer, has sold the company to California-based Jacuzzi. Hydropool started in Toronto in the 1970s and Dave bought into it in 1995, expanding its markets across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Under Jacuzzi’s ownership, Dave remains president of Hydropool.