91�� News - BCom Alumni

New York Islanders GM Mathieu Darche (BCom’00) hit the ground running

webfull — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:29:35 +0000

Some choices are obvious. And when Mathieu Darche (BCom’00) became the general manager and executive vice-president of the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders, he almost immediately did away with the team’s requirement that players be clean shaven.

“Making that change was low-hanging fruit,” Darche says. “I won’t dictate the players appearance. I want them to be themselves.” After that, the decisions got more difficult. The NHL draft and player free agency were both held shortly after Darche was hired. But he was prepared. “I never felt overwhelmed,” he says.

Published: 11 December 2025

Soutar Career Centre gives Desautels grads an edge

webfull — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 19:17:59 +0000

It’s a tough job market for recent graduates, but a 91�� education gives students an edge. “My time at 91�� was foundation for getting the job I have today,” says Andrei Adam (BCom’24) a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Toronto. At Desautels, students have unlimited access to coaches and career support through the Soutar Career Centre. Adam relied on these career coaching services when he was a student, seeking guidance on potential employers and feedback on his resume. He landed an internship with McKinsey as a second-year student, and got a job offer in his third year.

Published: 25 November 2025

Desautels alumnus Sam Greene helped the Blue Jays reach the World Series

webfull — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 19:22:41 +0000

In the 2025 Major League Baseball playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff has often looked dominant, even against some of the best batters in the world. Sam Greene (BCom’20, MMA’21) has helped them do it. A former varsity baseball player at 91��, Greene started out in baseball research for the Blue Jays and became an Assistant Pitching Coach in 2024. “Sam Greene is a geek, but many of the pitchers on this team are too,” said Chris Bassitt, a Blue Jays pitcher who has excelled as a middle reliever in the playoffs.

Published: 4 November 2025

Announcing the Inaugural Recipients of the Arthur D Ruby Prizes in Management

webfull — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 14:58:51 +0000

Congratulations to Anabel Gratton (BCom’23), Damiano Mini (BCom’24), Delia Puiu (BCom’24), George Zergiotis (BCom Concordia’23), Giulia Marandola (BCom’24), Harley Belfer (BCom’23), Jade Raynaud (BCom’23), Joanie Marchand (BCom’24), Sarah Green (BCom’24), and Vincent Ducharme (BCom UOttawa’23) who were awarded the Arthur D Ruby Prizes in Management by the Graduate Cert

Published: 28 July 2025

Leedana is bringing agriculture to the desert--and it got its start at Desautels

webfull — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:54:52 +0000

Egypt’s Nile River Valley has some of the most fertile land in the world. But most of the country is a barren desert where few plants can grow. Hassan Elrakhawy (BCom’24) wants to change that. The Egyptian-born entrepreneur founded Leedana, a startup that uses a technique called sandponics, which can reduce the amount of water needed to cultivate crops by up to 90%. The company already has farms in Egypt that grow cherry tomatoes, peppers, kale, lettuce and more. And other farms are under construction elsewhere.

Published: 5 June 2025

Desautels’ valedictorian Grace Singer hopes for carbon-free future

webfull — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:53:16 +0000

This year, ten valedictorians from across the university shared their reflections and insights with 91��’s Class of 2025--with an eye cast toward the future. Desautels Grace Singer will be among them. The graduating Bachelor of Commerce student hopes to make a difference by advocating for decarbonization from within the business world. “In the long-term I hope to work directly with the adoption and acceleration of sustainable solutions, such as what I did within the cleantech company I interned at during my degree,” Singer says.

Published: 5 June 2025

Sam Greene putting analytics skills to use with Toronto Blue Jays

webfull — Wed, 21 May 2025 19:36:02 +0000

After four years studying in Montreal, Sam Greene (BCOM’20, MMA’21) moved on to Toronto, where he caught on with Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays. Greene started in a role in an analytics role, but has since been named assistant pitching coach. As a junior member of the coashing staff, Greene is observing senior coaches like pitching coach Pete Walker and bullpen coach Graeme Johnson. “I’m specialized in using the advanced statistics we receive each match,” says Greene. “I contribute by guiding pitch choice and suggesting ways of approaching individual hitters.

Published: 21 May 2025

91�� to award honorary degree to Don Lewtas for contributions to global finance & student learning

webfull — Wed, 07 May 2025 15:37:05 +0000

91�� will award an honorary degree to Donald William Lewtas (BCom’75), a 91�� alumnus, at the 91�� Desautels Faculty of Management convocation this spring.

Lewtas will receive a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.), in recognition of his leadership in global finance and his support for hands-on education at the faculty.

Published: 7 May 2025

Julius Alessandro Xanthoudakis (BCom'20, MMF’25) wins 2024 Peter Christoffersen Award

webfull — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 19:51:28 +0000

Julius Alessandro Xanthoudakis (BCom'20, MMF’25) has been named the 2024 Peter Christoffersen MMF Award recipient, recognizing his academic excellence and contributions to the 91�� Master of Management in Finance (MMF) program.

A Montreal native with a background in finance and data science, Xanthoudakis honed his skills in market analysis and risk management as a strategist for Desautels Capital Management (DCM)’s SRI Fund. He credits the London networking trip and MMF’s collaborative learning environment as key to his growth.

Published: 19 March 2025

AI startup with roots at 91�� Desautels raises €9M in venture capital funding

webfull — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 23:31:03 +0000

There’s a lot that AI can do—and quite a bit that it can’t. And the mix of numbers and letters on a spreadsheet is one thing that AI has struggled to make sense of. Prior Labs wants to change that by developing machine learning models optimized to understand spreadsheets, which host an enormous amount of critical information in many firms.

Published: 7 February 2025

91������ News - BCom Alumni