Peter Gustavson made quite an impression earlier this year when he donated $10 million to the University of Victoria's school of business.
Yesterday, that impression was made permanent and indelible as the school was renamed in his honour.
The university's business school will now be known as the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business.
"It's the pinnacle of my business career. It doesn't get much better for a business person or entrepreneur to have their name associated with a business school, especially such a great business school as we have here at the University of Victoria," Gustavson said in an interview.
And while Gustavson hadn't really given much thought to the legacy and permanence of such an honour, he admitted having his name permanently attached to the school means a lot.
"It's very humbling for me to think my name could be here long after I'm gone, and hopefully somebody will ask, 'Who was that fellow and what did he do?' and hopefully that is some inspiration to some young entrepreneur 50 or 75 years from now," Gustavson said.
"[Legacy] is important if what I have done inspires others to swing for the fences."
Gustavson is certainly no stranger to the university, having hired a number of business school graduates over the years at Custom House Currency Exchange, the foreign exchange and international payments company he founded in 1992.
Gustavson sold Custom House last year to Western Union for $370 million, precipitating the $10-million donation to UVic's school of business in March. That donation is to be used to establish an endowment for scholarships, professorships and research in the faculty of business.
He also sits on the business school's advisory board and is chairman of the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award event, which he helped establish in 2004.
Addressing more than 200 people in a short ceremony to mark the business school's name change, Gustavson said, "the day you sell your company for $370 million is a great day, but this is a better day."
For UVic it was a historic occasion, said Ali Dastmalchian, the school's dean.
"It is a day that is the beginning of a new era of our business school," Dastmalchian said in an interview.
"After 20 years of trying to do business education in a slightly different, more innovative way, this is our reward."
Dastmalchian said Gustavson was an easy choice for the honour, and not just because of his financial contributions to the school. The dean noted Gustavson personifies everything the school has tried to do over its two-decade existence.
"His contribution, his strength and the business he's built is international, it's entrepreneurial and all about service -- those are the three things this school is all about," he said. "It's a great day for us, and the beginning of our next level of development and growth as a business school."
Gustavson agrees the two have much in common, a feature which attracted him to the school in the first place.
"It's a young business school but it has done some really innovative, entrepreneurial things that set it apart from other schools," Gustavson said, noting the mandatory co-op program for undergraduates is an ideal means of balancing business theory with practice.
"When they come out as a graduate, they are well versed in the skills of how businesses really operate."
Getting used to the new name is likely to take some time, Dastmalchian admitted, though he expects people will soon start referring to the school as "the Gustavson School" -- as they do for the Ivey School at the University of Western Ontario or the Sauder School at UBC.
"That's up to us to work on over the next couple of years," he said.
WHAT'S IN A NAME
The Peter B. Gustavson School of Business joins other Canadian universities in honouring their benefactors:
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Sauder School of Business
Named in 2003 after forest industry baron William Sauder
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Haskayne School of Business
Named in 2002 after Richard F. Haskayne, former chairman of MacMillan Bloedel and TransCanada Corp.
Donated $16 million
UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
Edwards School of Business
Named in 2007 for N. Murray Edwards, president of Edco Financial Holdings
UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
Asper School of Business
Named in 2000 for Israel Harold Asper, founder of Canwest Global Communications
Donated $11 million
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Rotman School of Management
Named in 1997 for Joseph Rotman, chairman of Roy L. Capital
Donated $36 million
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO
Richard Ivey School of Business
Named in 1995 for Richard G. Ivey, lawyer, businessman and philanthropist
Donated $11 million
McGILL UNIVERSITY
Desautels Faculty of Management
Named in 2005 for Marcel Desautels, founder of Canadian Credit Management Foundation
Donated $22 million
ACADIA UNIVERSITY
F.C. Manning School of Business
Named in 1957 for Fred C. Manning, founder of United States Corp.
ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY
Sobey School of Business
Named in 1992 for Frank H. Sobey, founder of Empire Co.
