Six Things You Didn't Know About Seymour Schulich

In thefoyer of the Schulich School of Business, the glossy silver letters of SeymourSchulich’s name winks a greeting and farewell to every student, professor, andalumnus who walk in and out of the main doors. Although the majority ofSchulich students see this sign virtually every day, not many people know muchabout the man who the building is named after. If you’re like me, you probablydidn’t know anything about him at all. After looking him up, I found that Mr.Seymour Schulich has a fascinating history and is still incredibly relevanttoday. So without further ado, here are six things you probably didn’t knowabout Seymour Schulich:

1. HE’S THE76^TH RICHEST PERSON IN CANADA

As of 2018, Seymour Schulich ranks as the 76^thrichest person in Canada with a net worth of $1.56 billion dollars. In 2017, Schulichfinished the year with a net worth of $1.77 billion dollars, which was the mosthe has ever been worth in recent history.

• SEYMOURSCHULICH NEVER STUDIED IN ONTARIO

Despitehis generous contributions to Ontarian post-secondary institutions such as YorkUniversity and the University of Western Ontario, Seymour Schulich has actuallynever studied in Ontario. He earned a Bachelor of Science in 1961 and a Masterof Business Administration in 1965 from McGill University, and in 1969 heearned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the University ofVirginia.

• SEYMOUR SCHULICH AND PIERRE LASSONDE INTRODUCED THECONCEPT OF ROYALTY PAYMENTS IN THE MINING INDUSTRY

In 1982, Seymour Schulichand his business partner, Pierre Lassonde, founded the Franco-NevadaCorporation, which was the first publicly traded gold royalty company. In 2002,their company merged with Normandy Mining Ltd. and Newmont Mining Corporationto create Newmont Mining Corporation, the largest gold mining corporation inthe world.  It is also interesting to note that Schulich’spartner, Pierre Lassonde, later went on to found the Lassonde EngineeringSchool at York University.

• HE’SWRITTEN A BOOK

SeymourSchulich published his book, Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons in 2007. The book’s purpose is to mentoryoung Canadian adults with entrepreneurial aspirations. It is now sold globallywith editions in English and Chinese, with French, Spanish, and Indian editionsauthorized.

• HE IS ANINCREDIBLY GENEROUS PHILANTHROPIST

To date, Seymour Schulich has donated over $350million dollars to various causes. In no particular order, they are:

• York University: Schulich School of Business
• Western University: Schulich School of Medicine& Dentistry
• University of Calgary: Schulich School ofEngineering
• Dalhousie University: Schulich School of Law
• McGill University: Schulich School of Music
• Nipissing University: Schulich School of Education
• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre: Schulich HeartCentre
• University of Nevada, Reno: Schulich Lecture Hall
• Technion - Israel Institute of Technology: SchulichFaculty of Chemistry (Haifa, Israel)
• UJA Federation of Greater Toronto & World ORT:Schulich Canada Smart Classroom Initiative
• Schulich Leadership Scholarship for those in STEM
• HE’SBEEN AWARDED THE HIGHEST RECOGNITIONS FOR A CANADIAN CIVILIAN

Seymour was awarded the Order ofCanada in 2000. A little over a decade later, in January 2012, he was promotedto an Officer of the Order of Canada, which is the highest recognition that aCanadian civilian can receive. In addition to these awards, Schulich hasreceived honorary doctorates from Dalhousie University, University of Calgary,University of Western Ontario, McGill University, and York University. He hasalso been inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and the CanadianBusiness Hall of Fame.

            All in all, Seymour Schulich is a truly interesting person with big ideas, big impact, and a big heart. His leadership and generosity has opened doors for many other successful leaders in a diverse range of fields. So the next time you’re walking out of the Schulich building with your Marketplace coffee in hand and you see the silver letters of Seymour Schulich’s name shining at you, be sure to remember the legendary man behind them.

By: Rhea Basu