Linda Hasenfratz, EMBA ’97, will receive the Ivey Business Leader of the Year award at a gala dinner featuring Canada’s most prominent business leaders in Toronto on October 19, 2017.
Hasenfratz, who is the chief executive officer of global auto parts giant Linamar, is best known for her leadership in the manufacturing industry where she has held a wide range of roles at the global firm. She has also been actively involved at the Ivey Business School as a participant and consultant in the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management’s Future of Manufacturing project and as an Ivey Advisory Board member.
She is dedicated to seeing women progress in business, including playing a leadership role. Recently, Hasenfratz spearheaded a $5-million initiative at Western that will offer 10 scholarships to female students each year pursuing a dual degree in engineering and business. She is also a founding representative on the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, a member of the Board of Advisors for Catalyst Canada since 2003 and the Women On Boards Advisory Council since early 2013.
Ivey Acting Dean Mark Vandenbosch, HBA ’84, said she showed resilience and innovation when leading her company successfully through the 2008 financial crisis and auto-industry collapse. In recent years, Linamar has outperformed the industry, with all-time high revenues and profits.
“Linda Hasenfratz is an outstanding business leader,” he said. “She has demonstrated discipline, strategic thinking, and creativity. Linda exemplifies the type of leadership we embrace at Ivey.”
Hasenfratz is currently the inaugural chair of the Philanthropy Leadership Cabinet of the Guelph General Hospital, a charitable organization that funds health-care initiatives. As well, her passion for the arts inspired her to join the Board of Governors of the Royal Ontario Museum in 2002.
Hasenfratz already has a long list of accolades including:
- The 2014 National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Canada;
- 2014 Ontario National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award;
- Induction into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame;
- The Chevalier dans L’Ordre national de la Legion d’honneur by the Government of France; and
- Order of Merit of Hungary.
“Linda Hasenfratz’s career and philanthropic accomplishments in corporate Canada deserve tremendous recognition,” said Kevin O’Brien, HBA ’93, Chair of the Ivey Business Leader Award dinner. “While she’s a fierce competitor in the business world, having taken the manufacturing industry by storm, Linda still remains very active in her community.”
The Ivey Business Leader Award will be presented at a black-tie dinner on October 19, 2017 at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto. Funds raised at the annual event support HBA and MBA student awards through the Ivey Fund Scholars program, and have previously supported the Toronto Alumni Professorship in Business Leadership, which is currently held by Professor Glenn Rowe; the Ivey Alumni Network Toronto HBA and MBA Scholarships; and the Richard Ivey Building.
Hasenfratz joins an esteemed list of Ivey Business Leader Award recipients demonstrating leadership in both business and their communities. Past recipients of the award include:
- 2016: Gord Nixon, Former President and CEO Royal Bank of Canada
- 2015: Jeff Orr, President and CEO, Power Financial Corporation
- 2014: Bonnie Brooks, Vice Chair, Hudson’s Bay Company
- 2013: George Cope, CEO Bell Canada
- 2012: Rick George, Former CEO Suncor Inc.
- 2011: Ed Clark, Group President and CEO of TD Bank Group (TD)
- 2010: Peter Munk, Founder and Chairman of Barrick Gold Corporation
- 2009: Richard J. Currie, Past Chairman, BCE Inc. and former President, Loblaw Companies Limited and George Weston Limited
- 2008: Dominic D'Alessandro, President & CEO, Manulife Financial
- 2007: Claude Lamoureux, President & CEO and Robert Bertram, Executive Vice-President, Investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
- 2006: Isadore Sharp, Chairman and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels Inc.
- 2005: Peter Godsoe, former Chairman and CEO, The Bank of Nova Scotia
- 2002: Gwyn Morgan, President and CEO, EnCana Corporation
- 2001: Harrison McCain, Chairman, McCain Foods Limited, and G. Wallace McCain, Chairman, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
- 2000: Purdy Crawford, Chairman, AT&T Canada
- 1999: Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, led by Prem Watsa, Chairman
- 1998: Paul Desmarais, Chairman, Power Corporation of Canada
- 1997: Frank Stronach, Chairman of the Board, Magna International Inc.
- 1996: Jean C. Monty, President and CEO, Northern Telecom Limited
- 1995: Jack Lawrence, Deputy Chairman, Nesbitt Burns Inc.
- 1994: Robert Nourse, President and CEO, The Bombay Company Inc.
- 1993: Cedric E. Ritchie, Chairman, The Bank of Nova Scotia
- 1992: John C. Carroll, President and CEO, Molson Breweries
- 1991: John M. Thompson, Chairman and CEO, IBM Canada Limited
About the Ivey Business School, Western University
The Ivey Business School (www.ivey.ca) at Western University is Canada’s leading provider of relevant, innovative and comprehensive business education. Drawing on extensive research and business experience, Ivey faculty provides the best classroom experience, equipping graduates with the skills and capabilities they need to tackle the leadership challenges in today’s complex business world. Ivey offers world-renowned undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as Executive Development at campuses in London (Ontario), Toronto and Hong Kong.
