Seymour Schulich

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¢Seymour Schulich B.Sc. MBA CFA (born January 6, 1940 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Schulich graduated from McGill University with a B.Sc. in 1961 and an MBA in 1965. He earned a Chartered Financial Analyst degree through the University of Virginia in 1969.

He is married to Tanna and they live in Willowdale, Ontario. They have two daughters, Deborah and Judith.[1]

[edit] Career

His first job was at Shell Oil Company and from 1968 to 1990, he worked at Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd., a pension fund management company which manages in excess of $10.6 billion CAD (as of 2003), becoming president and Vice-Chairman.

In 1978, Schulich, along with partner Pierre Lassonde, helped pioneer the concept of royalty payments in the mining industry: their Franco-Nevada and Euro-Nevada companies never discovered an ounce of precious minerals, but their royalty arrangements allowed them to gain ownership stakes in some of the world’s most profitable mines. A $1,000 investment in Franco-Nevada's stock in 1983 was worth $1.2 million in 2002, equivalent to a 40% average annual rate of return. In 2002, Franco-Nevada merged with Normandy Mining Limited of Australia and Newmont Mining Corporation, creating the largest gold mining company in the world, Newmont Mining Corporation. Schulich is Director of Newmont Mining and Chairman of its merchant banking division

Schulich is one of Canada's most astute investors. A recent example of his skill as an investor is his purchase of Canadian Oil Sands Trust. In early 2004 Schulich studied the outlook for oil and concluded that because demand for oil was rising faster than supply, the price of oil would rise and hold those higher prices for years. Schulich looked at Canadian oil companies and decided to buy units of Canadian Oil Sands Trust because it was the country's "most leveraged" [2] stock to oil prices and he had concluded that he was buying $1 of oil assets for every .25 cents he invested. "I bought this thing to make four times my money in three years," he said. [2] Schulich purchased 12.5 million units of Canadian Oil Sands Trust at an average price of $8.80 per unit for a total of $110 million CAD (number of units and price/unit split adjusted.) "It's my single largest investment," said Schulich. [2] At the end of 2007 the value of that investment in Canadian Oils Sands Trust had risen to over $480 million CAD.

The Economist ranked the Schulich Executive Education Centre (SEEC) as one of the world's best Executive Education providers.[3]

[edit] Philanthropy

Schulich is well known for his philanthropic activities such as his endownment for the Schulich School of Business at York University.

More recently, Schulich has endowed the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry ($25 million) at the University of Western Ontario. The gift was controversial, as many of the School of Medicine's undergraduate students protested both the source of the funds and the manner in which the faculty administration finalized the deal. Some students contended that unethical practices by some of Schulich's companies, such as Newmont Mining, made the conditions attached to the gift unacceptable. As a condition of the gift, the faculty has since been renamed the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and all of its merchandise and promotional materials must bear Schulich's name (1).

In the summer of 2005, Schulich donated $25 million to the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Calgary, which was met by an equal donation by the Provincial Government of Alberta. The Faculty was renamed The Schulich School of Engineering in honour of his donation.

He made initial efforts to endow the Faculty of Management at his alma mater McGill University. However, this effort did not come to fruition during the time of Bernard Shapiro's presidency at McGill University. But Schulich's philanthropy at McGill did estabish the Schulich Library of Science and Engineering.[4]

In the fall of 2005, he made a further $20 million donation to the Faculty of Music at McGill University. As a result, the Faculty was renamed The Schulich School of Music. A year later, Schulich underscored his support of McGill's music program by offering the Golden Violin, a unique award to encourage and support promising young musicians. The award consisted of an endownment for yearly scholarships and the gift of the Golden Violin, which is to remain on display at the university. The instrument is made of pewter and gold plate and is worth about $100,000. Schulich discovered the unique object during a visit to Dubai.

Schulich's philanthropy includes the Schulich Heart Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and the Schulich Lecture Hall at the University of Nevada, Reno.[4][5]

His philanthropy extends to educational institutions in Israel as well. In 2006, Schulich donated $20 million to Technion's (Israel Institute of Technology) chemistry department.

[edit] Honors

  • 2004, Honorary Doctorate, McGill University[4]
  • 2003, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, York University[6]
  • 1999, Member of the Order of Canada
  • 1998, "Developer of the Year" by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
  • 1997, with Pierre Lassonde, named "Mining Man of the Year" by The Northern Miner[7]

[edit] Partial bibliography

  • Schulich, Seymour. Get Smarter Life and Business Lessons. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2007. ISBN 9781552639429
  • Schulich, Seymour. Weather Gas Distribution Companies and Stock Markets ( a Theory for Short Term Traders.) --. S.l: s.n.], 1965.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The life of Seymour Schulich: Biographical notes. canadian-universities.net (September 30, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  2. ^ a b c Financial Post, October 5, 2004
  3. ^ Economist Ranks SEEC Among World’s Top Executive Education Providers. seec.schulich.yorku.ca (Spring 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  4. ^ a b c "Endowment music to McGill's ears", mcgill.ca, October 6, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-10-27. 
  5. ^ Schulich Lecture Hall. unr.edu. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  6. ^ Biography Seymour Schulich, CM, BSc, MBA, CFA, HonLLD (York). yorku.ca (2002). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  7. ^ Hall of Fame Inductee. halloffame.mining.ca. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.

Sources



[edit] Further reading

  • Gray, John. 2006. "LIVE & LEARN - Seymour Schulich - The Entrepreneur, Mentor and Philanthropist on His First Investment and Favourite Painter". Canadian Business. 79, no. 24: 144.