A Magazine for Alumni and Friends
Omas Abdullah (BSc '14) was among those named as part of the inaugural Developer 30 under 30 list, designed to recognize Canada's top talent in software development. Abdullah is lead iOS developer for OpenText Core, an industry leader in the digital information management sphere.
Alyssa Lagonia (BBA '11) led her Swiss premier league soccer team, FC Neunkirch, to the 2017 Switzerland Nationalliga League title. FC Neunkirch beat FF Lugano 1976 by a score of 3-0 to claim the championship. Lagonia has served as team captain since 2015.
Kirsten Grohs (BA '10) accepted a position as project manager with Los Angeles-based Sports Academy. Grohs was previously manager of football administration with the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars.
VersaBank has appointed Michael Dixon (MBA '05) as executive head of e-commerce. Dixon joined VersaBank in 2005 and has held management roles within the bank’s structured finance, infrastructure finance, corporate development and consumer finance departments.
Joani Gerber (BA '01) has been appointed CEO of investStratford, the City of Stratford's economic development corporation.
Brad Dunkley (BBA '98) has been appointed to the board of Parkit Enterprise Inc. as an independent director. The company is engaged in the acquisition, optimization and asset management of income producing parking facilities across North America. Dunkley a co-founder, co-CEO and portfolio manager at Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd., a Toronto-based alternative asset manager. In 2013, Laurier established The Dunkley Chair in War and the Canadian Experience, made possible through a $1.5-million gift from the Dunkley Charitable Foundation. Dunkley, along with fellow Laurier graduate Sara Dunkley (BBA '99), created the foundation.
Newgioco Group, Inc., a company providing regulated leisure gaming and wagering through licensed subsidiaries in Europe, announced it has appointed Robert Stabile (BBA '97) as an independent member of the company's board of directors. Stabile is a chartered financial analyst and currently the CFO of Beanfield Technologies Inc., an independent telecommunications company based in Toronto.
WatServ (Waterloo Managed Software Services Ltd.) has announced the appointment of Dave Lacey (MBA '95) as company president and CEO. Lacey joins WatServ from Brookfield RPS, where he served in several roles during a 10-year history with the firm, most recently as president and CEO. WatServ is a global leader in providing hosting and managed services for enterprise business systems.
Tracy Krunic (BBA '94), vice president of commercial lines (Ontario and Atlantic) with Intact Insurance, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO). The CSIO is Canada’s industry association of property and casualty insurers, brokers and software providers.
Craig Nicholson (BA '94) has been hired as the new head coach of the Javelina softball program at Texas A&M University - Kingsville. Nicholson has spent 20 seasons as a head coach, including two seasons at Arizona State University.
Ryan Murphy (BBA '94) and his company, Wade Antenna, won the company of the year award at the Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. Wade Antenna makes antennas and towers for utility, mining, wireless internet and other communication applications, exporting its product to 25 countries.
Joel Silver (BBA '94) has been appointed president and chief executive officer of DAVIDsTEA, a retailer of specialty tea with more than 230 stores throughout North America. Silver possesses more than 20 years of consumer brand experience, most recently as a general partner of TrilogyGrowth, a venture capital fund he co-founded.
Dianne Winmill (BMus '94) was named Canada's Music Teacher of the Year by MusiCounts and presented her award during the Juno Awards in April. Winmill has worked as a music teacher for 20 years and currently teaches at North Hastings High School in Bancroft, Ont.
Karen Montgomery-Gagné (BA '93) and her husband Daniel Gagné were inducted into the Sheppard Air Force Base’s Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program Hall of Fame, recognizing their contribution as community sponsors as part of a program that ensures international pilots find a welcoming home in North Texas. Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas hosts the world's only internationally staffed and managed combat jet-pilot training program. During the past 35 years, the program has graduated 7,200 combat trained pilots to the NATO Alliance. The program currently has 14 participating nations, including Canada.
Nicholas Vlacholias (BBA '90) accepted the position of president and chief executive officer of Brockville General Hospital. Vlacholias was previously senior vice-president and chief financial officer of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
The Ontario Pharmacists Association announced that Andrew D. Gall (BBA '89) joined the association as chief executive officer. Gall joined the association following serving as vice president, finance and administration with Health Shared Services Ontario (formerly the Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres).
ChroMedX Corp. has appointed John P. Ormston (BBA '89) to the company's advisory board. A past chair of Laurier's Board of Governors, Ormston is a partner at Ormston List Frawley LLP, a firm that specializes in corporate, securities and commercial litigation-employment law in the technology, junior resource and finance sectors. ChroMedX is a medical technology company focused on the development of novel medical devices for in vitro diagnostics and point-of-care testing.
Scott Balfour (BBA '88) has been appointed to serve as the next CEO of energy company Emera Inc. Currently the company's chief operating officer, Balfour will take up his new role in 2018. Balfour first joined Emera as executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2012. He was appointed chief operating officer in 2016.
Scott Gunter (BBA '86) has been appointed senior vice president, Chubb Group, division president, North America commercial insurance. Gunter possesses more than 30 years of insurance industry experience at Chubb and most recently served as chief operating officer in Chubb's North America personal risk services division. Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company.
Marianne Hasold-Schilter (BBA '82) has been appointed director and chairman of the board of Scotiabank (Bahamas). Hasold-Schilter was previously executive vice president and chief administrative officer of international banking at Scotiabank, a position she held since 2011.