Dean's Message - Winter 2018

By the time this magazine hits your mailbox, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will have just begun. We’ll be cheering on Team Canada at events for students, staff, faculty and alumni in Goodes Hall in Kingston and at SmithToronto, our newly expanded Toronto centre.

I always enjoy watching the Olympics but these Games will have extra-special meaning for me and the Smith community. Through our partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), we now offer full scholarships to Game Plan athletes. A new initiative from the COC, the Game Plan program helps athletes plan for their career and life after competitive sport. Over the course of our eight-year partnership, 1,200 Game Plan athletes will be eligible for full scholarships for a range of Smith programs including our suite of MBA programs, the Master of Finance, Master of Management Analytics and others.

In this issue of Smith Magazine, you’ll read profiles of just a few of the stellar Canadian athletes who have studied at Smith this past year — from bobsleigh great Jayson Krause, who completed a Queen’s Executive Education program, to canoe-kayak sprinter Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny, who will graduate from Queen’s MBA this spring, to heptathlete Jessica Zelinka, who is exploring her next steps through our Master of Management Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Some athletes who are still competing are taking advantage of the flexible new online format of our Certificate in Business program, such as hockey goalie Emerance Maschmeyer. Sitting volleyball player Anne Fergusson completed our four-month Graduate Diploma in Business last summer while continuing with her sport. When Anne decides to retire from volleyball, she, like her other GDB classmates, can ladder up and apply credits earned in the diploma program to a Queen’s MBA.

We are thrilled to be able to support Canadian athletes through business education. As an official Team Canada partner, please join me in saying, “Go Team Canada!”

David M. Saunders, PhD
Dean, Smith School of Business
david.saunders@queensu.ca