Dezsö Horváth named to the Order of Canada

Dezsö Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business at York and Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Strategic Management, has been named to the Order of Canada, the highest honour in Canada for lifetime achievement.

Recently re-appointed for an unprecedented fifth term as dean of Schulich, Horváth was chosen as a member of the Order of Canada for his academic leadership and sustained commitment to business education in Canada. His appointment was one of 75 announced by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on Canada Day. Insignia will be awarded at a future ceremony.

“I am so pleased and proud that Dean Horváth has been named a member of the Order of Canada,” said York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “Dean Horváth’s contributions to York and to Schulich can hardly be overstated. Under his leadership, Schulich has become a truly global business school that is changing the way business is taught.”

Right: Dezsö Horváth

A member of the Schulich faculty since 1977, Horváth holds an electrical engineering degree from Malmö Technical College in Sweden, as well as a master’s degree in business administration, a Licentiate degree in management and a PhD in management from the University of Umeå. Since becoming dean in 1988, he has worked tirelessly with internal and external stakeholders to position Schulich as “Canada’s Global Business School”.

Under Horváth’s leadership, Schulich has joined the top tier of the world’s leading business schools and is currently ranked number one in Canada. The school has pioneered cutting-edge programs, including Canada’s first International MBA and International BBA, as well as North America’s first cross-border executive MBA, with the Kellogg School of Management at Chicago’s Northwestern University. Schulich has many strategic partnerships around the world, including academic exchange agreements with more than 80 leading international business schools in nearly 40 countries, and has opened satellite centres in Beijing and Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Moscow, Russia; and Seoul, South Korea.

“I am deeply moved by receiving the high honour of being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada,” said Horváth. “I happily share this great recognition with my colleagues and associates at the Schulich School of Business and York University who through the years have worked closely with me to make the school an institution of which all Canadians at home and abroad can be extremely proud.”

In addition to publishing books and articles on strategic management and international business, Horváth has been engaged by major corporations and governments as a consultant, holds several directorships, and has been chosen for a number of prestigious honours. He was a member of the Board of Advisors on the Canada Global Leadership Initiative by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (1999-2000) and of the Premier’s Council of Ontario (1991-1995). He was a Fellow of the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, for close to a decade starting in 1995. In 2004, Horváth was named Dean of the Year by the Academy of International Business (AIB), and in 2006, one of the country’s 50 most prominent Hungarian-Canadians.

The Order of Canada, which was awarded for the first time during Canada’s centennial year in 1967, recognizes the dedication of Canadians in all sectors of society whose contributions have made a difference to their country.