Seymour Schulich

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

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.cite web |url=http://www.canadian-universities.net/News/Press-Releases/September_30_2005_The_life_of_Seymour_Schulich_Biographical_notes.html |title=The life of Seymour Schulich: Biographical notes |publisher=canadian-universities.net |date=September 30, 2005 |accessdate=2007-10-27]

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 oil company "most leveraged" Financial Post, October 5, 2004] to the rising price of oil he saw in the future. At his forecast higher prices for oil, Schulich calculated 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. 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. 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. [cite web |url=http://www.seec.schulich.yorku.ca/ssb-extra/seecnewsletter.nsf/newsletterv12/features4 |title=Economist Ranks SEEC Among World’s Top Executive Education Providers |publisher=seec.schulich.yorku.ca |date=Spring 2007 |accessdate=2007-10-27]

Philanthropy

Schulich is well known for his philanthropic activities, having donated funds to numerous Canadian universities including York, Western Ontario, Calgary, and McGill. His philanthropy also extends beyond universities, to the Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and outside Canada to the University of Nevada, Reno and Technion (Israel Institute of Technology).

Some of Schulich's gifts have been met with controversy from the student bodies of the recipient institutions. His $25 million endowment to the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario was protested by many of the School of Medicine's undergraduate students for 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. For similar reasons, Schulich's initial effort to endow the Faculty of Management at McGill University did not come to fruition during the time of Bernard Shapiro's presidency at McGill. However, he was finally able to endow the Schulich Library of Science and Engineering and the Schulich School of Music under the presidency of Heather Munroe-Blum.

Honors

* 2008, Doctor of Laws, "honoris causa", University of Western Ontario [cite web |http://communications.uwo.ca/com/media_newsroom/media_newsroom_stories/convocation_for_schulich_mds_pays_tribute_to_benefactor_20080514442243/ |title=Convocation for Schulich MDs pays tribute to benefactor=uwo.ca |accessdate=2008-06-12]
* 2004, Honorary Doctorate, McGill Universitycite web |url=http://www.mcgill.ca/music/schulich/benefactor/ |title=The Benefactor - Seymour Schulich: New standard for giving publisher=mcgill.ca |accessdate=2007-10-27]
* 2003, Doctor of Laws, "honoris causa", York University [cite web |url=http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/board/biography/Honorary/schulich.htm |title=Biography Seymour Schulich, CM, BSc, MBA, CFA, HonLLD (York) |publisher=yorku.ca |date=2002 |accessdate=2007-10-27]
* 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 [cite web |url=http://www.halloffame.mining.ca/halloffame/english/bios/schulich.html |title=Hall of Fame Inductee |publisher=halloffame.mining.ca |accessdate=2007-10-27]

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.

References

Sources
* [http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/news/?ItemID=22001 McGill University news]
* [http://knowledge.2y.net/issues.php The Schulich donation and the naming of the Schulich School of Medicine - Issues]
* [http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/Seymour-Schulich-Get-Smarter/seymourschulich_getsmarter-promoNB.html Seymour Schulich's biography - an Indigo Author]

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.