A decade of John Molson School of Business
When the Faculty of Commerce and Administration was renamed the John Molson School of Business (JMSB) in November 2000, it meant a new era for Concordia.
To celebrate the Faculty’s growth and achievements over the last decade, the JMSB will be holding an anniversary gala on Nov. 2 in honour of its renaming. The celebration will take place in the brand-new MB Building, the Faculty’s first dedicated home.
John Molson (1763-1836), an entrepreneur and philanthropist of Lincolnshire, England, played an instrumental role in developing Montreal and the Canadian economy. Among Molson’s string of accomplishments, he contributed to the construction of the city’s first theatre, called the Theatre Royal. He also helped found the Montreal General Hospital and he sat as a member on the Lower Canada Legislative Assembly. “The naming of Concordia’s business school after John Molson exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship and community engagement that John Molson, the succeeding generations of the Molson family, and the business school, represent,” says JMSB Dean Sanjay Sharma. “The branding of the school helped boost its image by linking it with a Canadian icon and with a brand that is well known in Canada and beyond.”
It is fitting that the gala be held in the MB Building, which opened its doors just last year. The tower offers state-of-the-art facilities, a flexible range of classroom styles, and space for students to study. The building also reflects the Faculty’s growing sensitivity to sustainability issues. Not only was it constructed according to LEEDestablished specifications, it features a solar panel system integrated into its envelope, courtesy of the Canadian Solar Building Research Network based in Concordia’s Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science.
Sustainability principles are also reflected in the JMSB’s curriculum. A generous donation from Concordia’s Chancellor established the David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise (DOCSE). The Centre supports research fellows, programs and projects intended to support corporate efforts to include sustainable practices into their business models.
These are among the Faculty’s most recent accomplishments. Within the first year after renaming, two key programs were inaugurated. The Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management Program provides students with actual training in investment management by working with a real-life portfolio worth over $1 million.
The Ned Goodman Institute of Investment Management opened, offering the world’s first MBA program fully integrating the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program into its curriculum. This year was the fourth year running that students doubled the global average for those writing the CFA exam, achieving a success rate of 93%.
The JMSB’s reputation has grown steadily over the last decade. In 2004, the MBA program appeared in the Wall Street Journal’s Guide to the Top Business Schools and Forbes magazine’s survey of the Best Business Schools. Most recently, the MBA program cracked The Economist magazine’s 2010 top 100 ranking.
Related links:
• JMSB
• Solar Building Research Network