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Eight Desautels students and alumni have been selected to receive the ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ Alumni Association (MAA) Awards. They will be honoured at the MAA's Annual Honours & Awards Dinner.

Award of Merit: Lili de Grandpré, MBA’81

Lili has a long record of service as a volunteer for the MAA and the Faculty of Management, and she most recently served as Vice-Chair of the ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ Board of Governors. In addition to her ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ involvement she has sat on the boards of Centraide, the OSM, Y des Femmes, and the Montreal Circus School.

Robert Fung International Award of Distinction: Honourable James Nelson, BCom’69

For well over 20 years, James Nelson has served as a Trustee of the ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ UK Trust. In 2003 he assumed the position of Chair of the Trust. Since that time, he has diligently worked to increase donations from alumni in the UK, as well as to refine the terms of the Trust to ensure that promising students from the UK will have the financial means to attend ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ. As a loyal volunteer, James has played a key role is assisting the MAA with activities to connect UK ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ alumni with each other and with the University.

Special Recognition Award: Hult Prize Winners

Mohammed Ashour, MSc’11, MBA/MDCM’17
Gabriel Mott, MBA’14
Jesse Pearlstein, MBA’14
Shobhita Soor, BSc’10, MBA/BCL/LLB’15
Zev Thompson, MBA'14

This five-member team of students from the Desautels Faculty of Management was one of six teams to reach the finals of the prestigious Hult prize competition, having emerged from a field of over 10,000 college and university students from around the world. This year’s challenge: to create a social enterprise that will secure food for undernourished communities, and particularly for the 200 million people who live in urban slums. And this they did, persuading the judges that their project to turn crickets into food was viable. The social-entrepreneurship award for students, which includes $1 million in seed capital, was presented by former President Bill Clinton.

Gretta Chambers Student Leadership Awards: Joël Taillefer, BCom’14 

When it comes to promoting ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ and the Desautels Faculty of Management, current MUS President, Joël Taillefer, is leading the pack. In addition to maintaining a close relationship with faculty members, administrative staff, and students, Joël is remarkably passionate about improving student life within the Faculty. Under his leadership, he oversees 6 MUS executives, 45 committees and 11 clubs that organize more than 50 activities throughout the year and are expected to raise over $60,000 this year alone for numerous philanthropic causes. Joël is committed to extending support to all students and improving the visibility of the MUS within the Faculty, on campus and in the greater community. Through his work and his strategic vision, Joël’s outstanding commitment to the continuous improvement of the MUS instills respect, admiration and loyalty in the hearts of his colleagues and peers.