Before stepping fully into the new year, however, I would like to take a minute to look back at 2013, an excellent year indeed for the Campus Montréal fundraising campaign. Excellent, thanks to an outstanding team made up of donors, Executive Cabinet and a great many other volunteers, whose invaluable support had made our campaign such a success!

It was a year in which several ambitious flagship projects got off the ground. Among others, the Trottier Institute for Energy at Polytechnique Montréal, which will train a new generation of engineers and scientists to address the energy challenges of the 21st century; the National Bank Entrepreneurship Centre│HEC Montréal, which will support innovative entrepreneurs and encourage them to set up or take over a business; and the Rémi Marcoux Entrepreneurial Track at HEC Montréal, which will harness the entrepreneurial spirit of students so they become creative, dynamic, socially responsible young business owners with strong professional relationships.

In 2014, the fundraising campaign will focus on increasing Campus Montréal’s profile through its global alumni network, supporting merit and recruitment scholarships, furthering infrastructure research and development, and promoting new flagship projects. One of these is the development of the satellite Outremont Site where Université de Montréal’s Science Building and Polytechnique Montréal’s Engineering Building will form part of an integrated urban complex. The September 2013 announcement and commitment by Quebec premier Pauline Marois gave a boost to this ambitious development plan, and it continues to garner tremendous support. We are also keeping a strong focus on our other priorities, such as the Carabins varsity sports program and various institutes.

The new year will also be a call-to-action opportunity for campus-related campaigns, which mobilize the resources of our vibrant community of students, staff and faculty, alumni and retirees. Needless to say, we will continue to solicit major donors and industry leaders and hope to receive further substantial donations.

I am proud of our institutions, of what our talented faculty and students have achieved, and of the commitment and dedication shown by our volunteers and donors. I strongly believe that 2014 will be another remarkable year for our campaign if only because we are one heck of a team!

Happy New Year and thanks again.

John Parisella

Photo credit: Martin Laprise
Shown in photo: Executive Cabinet members and the Campus Montréal volunteer fundraising team.