David Weyant, CQEMBA, has been appointed Chair of the Board of Governors of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, an internationally renowned home of arts and culture. He also accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer of the Alberta Lawyers Insurance Association.
Alumni Notes
Submit your alumni note to Smith Magazine2014
Casey Burgess (CQ-EMBA) was elected mayor of Wilmer, Texas, defeating the incumbent by two votes in that city’s May 2014 general election.
Published in: Winter 2015
2013
Kenzie McNeil (MIB) has started a new position as a Senior Consultant in finance and fiscal policy at the Halifax Regional Municipality. Kenzie reports that he looks forward to helping bring positive influence to public policy in Atlantic Canada.
Published in: Winter 2015
Dylan DiLecce (BCom) founded Sovereign, a progressive, upscale casual clothing company in Toronto that launched in Nov. 2013, just six months after he graduated.
Classmates modelled the inaugural collection at the launch (pictured are Elizabeth Westgate, Utsav Gandhi, Dylan and Ryan Seager; absent is fellow classmate/model Angela Wong). As a completely online retailer, Dylan looks forward to building the brand while continuing to work for real estate internet company BuzzBuzzHome. Visit www.svrgn.ca (See qsb.ca/magazine/startups for more.)
Published in: Winter 2014
Kajal Palan (CQ-EMBA) and his wife Hina were excited to welcome their twin boys, Shiven and Shyam, in September. It’s been a hectic time for Kajal; after graduating in May, he changed jobs and is now Director of Finance at the Ontario Genomics Institute. He lives with his family in Mississauga.
Published in: Winter 2014
Syed Tanvin Haque (MFin) and his wife, Fariha, welcomed their son, Ehan, on March 12, 2014, in Toronto.
Published in: Winter 2015
Chris Smeets (EMBA) is now Manager of Quality Assurance, Maintenance Operations, with Air Canada rouge in Toronto. He reports that this opportunity will provide him with the challenge he was seeking and the ability and freedom to build from the lessons learned through the Queen’s MBA program. Chris reports being very excited to help grow this new venture into a sustainable organization that provides something special to the lesser-travel market.
Published in: Winter 2014
James Austen, MBA, and his wife Jennifer welcomed Niamh Elizabeth Austen in March.
Published in: Summer 2017
Robbie Mitchnick, BCom, ArtSci’13, completed his first year of the Stanford MBA program, achieving top one per cent distinction, which he attributes in large part to his time at Smith. He continues to serve as Chairman of Q4Q Beer Company, alongside a board that includes graduates from BCom’11 through BCom’15. The company recently launched its Naughty Otter beer in California, building on the success of the brand in Ontario.
Published in: Winter 2018
Augusta White, BCom, as part of her role on the Ontario board for the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, met His Royal Highness Prince Harry during his recent visit to Canada. In addition, Augusta was selected to be mentored by TD Bank's CEO, Bharat Masrani, through TD's Women in Leadership chapter and was recently promoted to a new role directly reporting to the SVP of Human Resources and Talent at TD.
Published in: Winter 2018