Data science: Teaching and mastering analytics

In September 2012, four students began in Schulich School of Business’s Master of Science in Business Analytics program at York University. It was the inaugural year of the one-year program and, judging by the fact that all its students (except for one starting her PhD) have been hired, it would seem there is a demand in the market, reported Marketing magazine Aug. 20. There are 15 students enrolled in the second year of the program with a couple more expected to join. Read full story.

Income for life starts with better assessment of personal balance sheet
An excellent way to learn more about long-term financial planning is through the work of Moshe Milevsky. A professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Milevsky is especially gifted at taking complex financial topics and making them understandable, reported the Chicago Tribune Aug. 20. In particular, I recommend his book Are You a Stock or a Bond? (FT Press), revised in 2013. Milevsky’s aim is to cover the most important factors that will allow you to generate a lifetime of income you cannot outlive. Read full story.

Natural disasters, rising costs are Canada’s biggest public safety risk: documents
The rising cost of natural disasters and the financial burden on Ottawa is the country’s biggest public safety risk, reported Global News Aug. 20. York University Professor Ali Asgary, who teaches in the emergency management program, said governments should be reviewing all existing arrangements and looking into private sector sources that can contribute. “Including also the households and populations themselves, will have to probably set aside a certain amount of extra funding for emergency preparedness and mitigation purposes,” he said. “Disaster and emergencies are all about, really, coordination and communication.” Read full story.

Canadian university officials to visit Indian cities to woo students
Officials from nine Canadian universities will visit India for two weeks to meet students in select schools in five cities to hold information sessions on how Canada can be a premier destination for higher education, reported India Today Aug. 16….The visiting universities are University of British Columbia, Carleton University, Concordia University, Guelph University, McGill University, Queens University, Ryerson University, University of Toronto and York University. Read full story.

Canadians detained in Egypt unlikely to be released soon
Two Canadians arrested in Egypt have been ordered detained for up to 15 more days without charge, leading to a new round of complaints from the Canadian government, reported The Globe and Mail and others Aug. 20. The federal government said on Monday that it believes physician Tarek Loubani of London, Ont., and York University film Professor John Greyson were simply in the “wrong place at the wrong time” when Egyptian police arrested them on Friday. Read full story.

Toronto sprinters earn Canada world relay bronze medal
Canada earned the 4×100-metre bronze medal at the 2013 world track and field championships in Moscow the same way as they lost it at the 2012 Olympics in London – on an appeal, reported the Scarborough Mirror Aug. 19. All four of the Canadian sprinters, who shared the bronze medal, have deep connections to Toronto, including Dontae Richards-Kwok, 24, of Mississauga, who attended Mississauga’s Woodlands School and later closed out his postsecondary athletic career at York University in 2012 as the athlete of the year. He’s still affiliated with the York University track club. Read full story.

Top 50 Twitter profs include these Canadian b-school teachers
In 1998, in the wake of an Asian currency crisis, a Toronto-based, internationally supported non-profit training centre was established to enhance the oversight capacity of global financial regulators. The founders of the Toronto Centre, as it is known, include the World Bank, the Canadian government and York University’s Schulich School of Business, reported The Globe and Mail Aug. 16. Fifteen years later, and after the 2008 global financial meltdown, Schulich and the Toronto Centre are collaborating again, this time on a new specialization in regulatory affairs within the school’s master of finance program. Read full story.

Ottawa pressures Cairo to release arrested Canadians
The two Canadians now detained in Egypt were out after curfew in Cairo’s protest-torn streets and arrested when they asked police for directions to their hotel, the Canadian government believes. Prime Minister Stephen Harper personally questioned the arrest of London, Ont., emergency physician Tarek Loubani and Toronto filmmaker John Greyson, reported The Globe and Mail and others Aug. 19.…The two men had arrived in Cairo Thursday on their way to Gaza – Loubani trains emergency physicians there, while Greyson, a York University professor, was considering making a film about a hospital. They learned the border to Gaza was closed, so they stayed in Cairo. Read full story.

Results from 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities
Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, which annually publishes the Academic Ranking of World Universities, has released its 2013 list. The top 10 are once again all in the US or U.K. Canada has 23 schools in the top 500 this year – including Toronto’s York University – up from 22 last year and 21 five years ago reported Maclean’s Aug. 15. Read full story.

Ferry compensation upsetting islanders
News of perks paid to top B.C. Ferries executives is drawing an angry public reaction after the publicly owned corporation took a $20-million government bailout last year, reported the Nanaimo Daily News Aug. 20….The B.C. Ferries board approved compensation amounts based partly on pay scales for executives for 69 large Canadian organizations, ranging from AGF Management to Xerox Canada and York University. Read full story.