by Sidhartha Banerjee

When Lawrence Kryzanowski first arrived at Concordia from the West Coast, it was only supposed to be for one year. It was 1973 and he was in his early 20s, and he didn’t think he’d stay in Montreal for more than a year.

Well, one year became two, and so on, and his career at Concordia has reached new heights. Dr. Kryzanowski has become the first scholar appointed to the Ned Goodman Chair in Investment Finance. It was launched at a reception at the Mount Royal Club last Friday afternoon.

The Institute became a reality in 2000, thanks to a donation by Ned Goodman, chairman, president and CEO of Dundee Bancorp Inc. and chairman of Dynamic Mutual Funds Ltd.

The donation provided financial resources for the establishment of the Institute and the ongoing development of scholarly research in the field of finance at the John Molson School of Business.

“It’s always a big honour to become a chaired professor and the School didn’t have chairs before, but now we have two — one in finance and one in accounting — so it’s nice to be a groundbreaker in that area,” Dr. Kryzanowski said in an interview shortly before the reception.

“It’s important to get known; it’s great to do everything, but you have to specialize somewhat to get a real international reputation in that area, and I think we can do that in investment management,” he said.

Classes will be offered to students simultaneously in Montreal and Toronto, and Kryzanowski expects a large number of students in Toronto, where the potential market is much bigger. The Institute is targeting those who don’t have an MBA yet but do have experience in the investment area. Dr. Kryzanowski, who has supervised well over 20 PhD theses in his 29 years at Concordia, is looking forward to developing a new generation of top people in the investment area.

Ned Goodman was also on hand and was pleased to see his donation being put to work. When asked why he chose Concordia, Goodman said that it was clear that Concordia needed his help, but he also had a few other reasons for coming on board.

“This is an institution where I have many friends, and Concordia up until recently has been a little bit left behind,” said Goodman, who attended McGill University and the University of Toronto, institutions he admits don’t need as much fundraising help.

“But also, Concordia has been a leader in allowing students to have a life other than school and still attain a degree. Intelligence in these instances is clearly not enough; you need energy and discipline.” Incidentally, Goodman’s wife Anita was a full-time mother looking after their four kids while completing her undergraduate degree at Loyola.

The world of business is continually changing, but Concordia keeps meeting the changes head-on, said Mohsen Anvari, Dean of the John Molson School of Business.

He said, “One of the things we’ve done that’s set us apart from the other business schools across the country is that we’ve tried to find niches where we can partner with a particular industry, and also have formal partnerships with industry.

“Within this context, when Mr. Goodman expressed a desire to establish a centre of excellence in investment management, we were really thrilled.”

Goodman has also played an important role in securing Concordia University’s financial future, said Marcel Danis, Vice-Rector Institutional Relations and Secretary-General.

“Some of you may know that the Concordia Foundation had less than $4 million dollars not so long ago, Today, because of the generosity of donors such as Mr. Goodman and some of you here tonight, we are growing so fast that we needed to form a strong investment committee to manage those funds.”

Goodman, who chairs the committee, will soon have more than $4 million to manage. Danis told the audience that Concordia soon will be able to say that the Foundation’s fund has surpassed $100 million, exceeding even the university’s own expectations.