Meet the Dean

Published in April, this report traces the real, measurable and ongoing impact of Haskayne contributions to Calgary’s economic and social prosperity. In a single year (2024), Haskayne had an estimated $2.4 billion overall impact, including $1.17 billion in increased earning power of Haskayne alumni, and more than 1,060 jobs supported by Haskayne activities. What we do here makes a real difference.

This past year saw the $128-million sale of CDL-Rockies alumni company Hyperlume to Credo in September 2025. The Waterloo-based technology startup, which participated in CDL-Rockies’ Prime stream in 2022, developed microLED solutions to address energy and bandwidth bottlenecks in chip-to-chip communications for AI and cloud data centres. Note: Haskayne is home to one of only five CDLs in Canada.

This was a banner year for Haskayne, demonstrating once again, we are the school to beat in national and international case competitions. There are too many successes to list here. I list only first place finishes at competitions hosted externally, or competitions hosted internally where other universities participated. 

External

o    JDC West, in Accounting and Entrepreneurship 
o    Queen’s ICBC in Marketing 
o    McDonough Business Strategy Challenge
o    CPA Alberta Education Foundation Business Challenge 
o    SCOPE Case Competition 
o    Texas Energy Trading Case Competition
o    FP Canada National Student Financial Planning Case Competition
o    Enactus Canada Nationals, National Bank Indigenous Inclusion Project Accelerator Best Project 

Internal

o    The Westman Centre Real Estate Case Competition
o    Haskayne's Digital Innovation Challenge, presented by the Steve and Tina Wilson Family Foundation

Haskayne’s Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business successfully launched its inaugural Haskayne MBA Leadership Lab, a high-impact experiential program that produced measurable growth in self-awareness and essential leadership skills. A total of 24 students completed the program.

International experiences can be transformative. As a result of an increase in global study awards and staffing resources to support this, student participation in study abroad has grown by nearly 112 per cent this past year. A total of 161 BComm and MBA students participated in the 2025-26 summer, fall and winter exchanges, compared to 76 participants in 2024-25.

The number of students participating in the 50-hour mini-internship Propel projects increased by 55 per cent this year, expanding to the spring semester and including BComm students. A total of 143 students participated across BComm, MMgmt and MBA programs.

Comprehensive reviews led to major enhancements to the school’s MBA and Executive MBA programs. The redesigned programs streamline curriculum, strengthen leadership development and introduce updated specialization options aligned with evolving market demands, creating more distinct and targeted learning experiences for emerging and executive leaders.

A number of Haskayne faculty were recognized this year for their teaching excellence. Hossein Piri was recognized by Poets&Quants as one of this year’s best 40 Under 40 graduate business professors; Lindsey Marofke was acknowledged by the CPA Alberta Education Foundation with the CPA EF Teaching Award; and Justin Knibbe received a University of Calgary Teaching Excellence Award for Experiential Learning Initiatives.

Haskayne celebrated a record year in external research funding, securing over $3.2 million in total research grant funding and an astounding 87.5 per cent success rate for SSHRC Insight Grant applications, more than double the national average.

Some of Haskayne's researchers who were recognized this year nationally and internationally include: Marius Zoican, appointed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Financial Technology; Andrew Hayes, named one of Clarivate's Highly Cited Researchers for 7th year in a row; Liena Kano, newly elected 2026 Academy of International Business Fellow; and Ari Pandes, appointed as a Research Fellow with the C.D. Howe Institute.

This year, we welcomed Al Monaco (past CEO of Enbridge) and Sue Tomney (past CEO of Calgary YWCA) as the new Jarislowsky Fellows in Business Management. They have provided a year of engaging programming for E/MBA students and we are delighted to have them with us.  

This year we recognized 2025 Haskayne Alumni Award recipients Deanna Zumwalt, BComm’93, Kelly Schmitt, BComm’00, and Jordan Lypchuk, EMBA’19 for their tremendous contributions to our community.

Thanks to the ongoing partnership of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the Calgary Foundation, this year's Inspiring Business Leader Award honoured the remarkable Hunter family for their legacy of entrepreneurial thinking that has shaped business, philanthropy and innovation in Calgary for generations. Many thanks to all who attended and helped support student scholarships through their generosity.