London Inc. March/April 2023 - 31

The pair are among thousands of students who
have been challenged, intimidated, inspired and,
ultimately, educated within the framework of
Ivey's famous case method of teaching. Sidetrack
is their living case, even as both work at other,
full-time jobs.
Across Canada and around the world, there
are Ivey grads doing a version of the same thing -
applying the lessons learned in case discussions
to the real world of their jobs and organizations.
And as Ivey marks its 100th anniversary, the
school is both looking back to celebrate its
achievements and looking forward to the next
decade and beyond, with a clear vision of how
it can continue to be one of the world's best and
most influential business schools.
It isn't only students who can feel overwhelmed
by the sometimes-intense atmosphere
the school engenders. " My first year
teaching was dreadful, " recalls Jeffrey
Gandz, who arrived in 1977 after working
in marketing for Unilever and then
earning his Ph.D. at York University.
" Teaching with the case method was
a challenge. I sometimes felt like a
traffic cop with 70 students, trying to
facilitate a conversation. I went to see
the dean, Bud Johnston, and told him
this wasn't for me. "
Johnston, who had just been
There are worse things to be called.
The school adopted the Ivey name in 1996,
reflecting what then was already a four-decade
association with the Ivey family. Indeed, Richard
Ivey received an honourary degree in 1954, recognizing
his work with the school. And in 1957, the
new School of Business Administration building
opened and was named in his honour.
For many in London, and even for Western
students in other faculties, Ivey is symbolized
almost entirely by its gorgeous glass-cube
building. It opened officially 10 years ago, a
crowning achievement for Carol Stephenson as
she completed her second term as dean.
Stephenson's influence continued after she
left the dean's chair. She played a central role in
recruiting the current dean, Sharon Hodgson.
appointed dean, encouraged Gandz to
stick around for a second year, to see
if things improved. " In my second year, things
flipped. I quickly came to love the place and what
I was doing. " Gandz retired from active teaching
in 2013 and is a professor emeritus. As such, he
has been connected to the school for nearly half
its 100 years of operation.
The beginning, as you might expect, was rather
" IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE PANDEMIC,
I'M NOT SURE WE WOULD HAVE
GOTTEN TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
WE HAD TO STOP EVERYTHING DURING
LOCKDOWN, AND THAT GAVE US A
CHANCE TO START AGAIN, TO CHANGE
THE STRUCTURE OF WHAT WE WERE
DOING " -Sharon Hodgson
" Carol called me to discuss the job, " she recalls.
" I was in Toronto, and we met at a restaurant halfway
between Toronto and London in the summer
of 2018. She walked me through the position and
was very helpful. "
Hodgson, a Winnipeg native, had retired from
humble. But even before one student took one note,
organizers decided to adopt the case method of
teaching. There weren't many business schools
- or departments of commercial economics, as
Ivey began life - from which to draw inspiration.
But there was one place that seemed to be doing
things right and getting results: Harvard. It was
using the case method, and that was good enough
for Western. Classes began in 1922; the following
year, the first six students graduated with
honours business administration degrees.
The Harvard influence was profound and
long-lasting. " When I arrived in 1977, there were
roughly 40 faculty, " Gandz recalls. " And I would
say 90 per cent of them had degrees from either
Harvard or Ivey. Ivey was Harvard North. "
IBM in 2017. She was looking for a new career
direction and was being wooed by tech juggernaut
Salesforce. " I interviewed in parallel for
both positions and really thought I would take
the Salesforce job at various times, " she recalls.
With due respect to all the Forest City has to
offer, living in San Francisco had a lot of appeal.
So too did the financial benefits. And yet, Hodgson
felt a pull toward a job where she could make a
tangible impact, where she could, quite literally,
change the world. " I wanted to do something
transformational and give back. My husband kept
telling me I would be happier at Ivey. "
When she chose Ivey, she discovered one of
her best friends had also been interviewing for
the Salesforce job. Her friend got the job, and
earlier this year, Hodgson's son took a job in San
London Inc. March/April 2023

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