Dear Members of the Schulich Alumni Community:

It is with deep personal sadness that I write to inform you that the Schulich School of Business has lost its Founding Dean, Dr. James Gillies. He passed away on Sunday, December 13. Jim was the beloved husband of Betsy; proud father of David, Cathy, James and Ted; and grandfather to Jackie, Gwen, James and David.

Member of the Order of Canada, Jim was Professor Emeritus of Policy. York awarded him the title of University Professor in 1995 and an Honorary Doctorate in 2003.

He was at the helm when the Faculty of Administrative Studies (FAS) opened its doors in the fall of 1965, some 50 years ago. Today, the Schulich School of Business, as it is now known, boasts more than 27,000 graduates who work in over 90 countries around the world. The top-ranked business school in Canada and among the leading schools of management across the globe, Schulich has pioneered cutting-edge, specialized programs across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Our alumni lead many of Canada’s most successful organizations. Our faculty members have earned international reputations for their research and teaching. And our School’s global footprint is second to none. But all this would not have happened had it not been for the vision of one James McPhail Gillies.

Born in 1924 in the western Ontario town of Teeswater, Jim was the son of rural doctor M.H. Gillies and wife Gladys. His father’s dedication to the needs of the individual strongly influenced Jim’s own views on education and government.

After completing undergraduate studies in economics at the University of Western Ontario in London, Jim went south of the border to do an MA and PhD. He returned to Canada almost 20 years later, leaving behind an exceptional academic and administrative career in the Graduate School of Business Administration at UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles.

In 1965, Murray Ross, the first President of York University, hired Jim to build the University`s school of business. Today, Schulich alumni with undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees have helped shape Canada’s development across all sectors of the economy.

James Gillies’ legacy as a trailblazer in education is legendary. He was fond of saying that from the start, faculty and students adopted as their unofficial motto the words of the great landscape architect Daniel Burnham: "Make no little plans...Make big plans." And that he did.

Around the time Jim arrived at York, a university-sponsored study recommended that York`s new business school should offer programs to improve management throughout all sectors of the economy, including government and the not-for-profit sector. At the time, this was a distinctly radical view. It was one that Jim had always held, believing as he did that management skills were transferable and could be applied to all areas of the economy. And so a new breed of business school was born.

Another landmark decision was to create one of the world’s first part-time MBA programs. Over the years, this has given thousands of working professionals the opportunity to obtain a graduate management degree to further their careers. John Hunkin, former head of CIBC, and Rick Waugh, former head of Scotiabank, were among the first graduates of the part-time program.

Jim was also the motivating force behind the creation of a number of specialized management programs, the first of their kind in Canada. These included Arts and Media Administration and Canada’s first MBA/LLB degree. Throughout the late 80’s and 90’s in particular, he had a hand in virtually every new initiative the School undertook, and there were many. 

Jim was responsible for introducing the iconic “601” Strategy Study to the MBA. This rigorous team-based study of an existing corporation became a hallmark of the Schulich MBA. It underlined the School’s emphasis on balancing theory with practice, and reinforced its emphasis on bringing the real world into the classroom.

Jim was a highly successful fundraiser. The most significant of his fundraising initiatives was an early $500,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to carry out management research. This was matched by Canadian corporations. The one million dollars raised by Jim and his advisory board allowed the School to attract established faculty from across North America. One of the earliest grants came from the Max Bell Foundation. This was used to create the School’s original business and government program which became a model for some of its earliest specialized programs.

Throughout his career, Jim Gillies was “a man for all seasons”. At York, he played a central role in the building of the University as Vice-President, Academic Affairs, and Chair of the Search Committees for the Inaugural Deans of Fine Arts, Environmental Studies, and Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1972, at the end of his seven-year term as FAS Dean, Jim ran for office federally and was elected as the Progressive Conservative (PC) representative for the riding of Don Mills. During his seven years in Ottawa, he served as Finance Opposition Critic and Chairman of the Shadow Cabinet; was a candidate for the leadership of the PC Party, and a senior policy advisor to then Prime Minister Joe Clark. During that time, he used to say that whenever he needed advice on economic policy issues, he’d call professors at business schools across Canada and around the world. It was then that Jim realized that real power and influence were in fact in the halls of academe. A firm believer in the need to establish and maintain a dialogue with corporate Canada, Jim had always sought the counsel of management practitioners. From the start, he created Faculty-wide advisory boards composed of the country’s leading CEOs.

Jim was an excellent teacher. He lectured to, advised and directed generations of Canadian managers. His teaching evaluations were consistently among the School’s highest. He was also a scholar, having published numerous articles and books. His seminal work on corporate governance, Boardroom Renaissance: Power, Morality and Performance in the Modern Corporation (1992), was highly acclaimed, as was his later book, Inside the Boardroom (2005). A member of numerous corporate boards himself, he played a seminal role in establishing the Russia-Canada Corporate Governance Program created to transfer Canadian expertise to Russian businesses.

A man of passion and compassion, Jim was at once a pioneer, entrepreneur, fundraiser, teacher, scholar and visionary. He earned for Schulich and for York a reputation for excellence and leadership in management education. To acknowledge Dr. Gillies’ many contributions, the business school established an annual lecture series in his honour that featured many of the country’s leading business people. In 1992, he was awarded the first annual Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to the School.

A bronze bust of Dr. Gillies located in the heart of the School’s CIBC Marketplace was commissioned several years ago.

Jim was tireless in his dedication to the School that he created. He came to work five days a week and spent his time here on research, writing, teaching and consulting with faculty colleagues.

Jim had been in failing health over the past few years. As a result, he had not been able to come in to work. The School was never quite the same without him, nor will it ever be again.

For further information regarding the Service for Jim to be held January 2, 2016 at 1:00 pm at the Teeswater United Church, please visit: http://www.tiffinfuneralhome.ca/obit-detail.php?oid=201


Sincerely,

Dezsö J. Horváth, PhD, CM
Dean
Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Strategic Management
Schulich School of Business
York University