TORONTO, October 17, 2002 -- Philip S. Orsino, a leading figure in international manufacturing, is the recipient of the 2002 Rotman Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

Orsino, a 1976 graduate of the U of T, is President and CEO of Masonite International Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer and merchandiser of commercial and residential doors. The Masonite International group of companies has 70 facilities in 12 countries, 12,000 employees and customers in over 50 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

"Entrepreneurs such as Philip Orsino - who achieve success on the world stage from a base in Canada - deserve to be celebrated. The Rotman School is proud to present this Award to Philip," says Dean Roger Martin.

Orsino will receive the Award during a celebratory dinner at the Rotman School on October 17, co-hosted by Dean Roger Martin and John Cassaday, MBA'81, President and CEO of Corus Entertainment Inc., who is a previous recipient of the award.

Born in Toronto in 1954, Philip Orsino attended U of T's Victoria College, graduating with a BA in 1976. He became a CA in 1979 and a partner in the firm of Hilborn, Ellis, Grant, Chartered Accountants. In 1997, the accounting profession recognized his achievements by electing him a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA).

In 1983, Orsino co-founded Century Wood Door Limited, and assumed the full-time role of President and CEO in 1984. It didn't take long for the company to flourish under his leadership: at the end of its first year of operations, Century employed 60 people, and produced about 1,200 doors per day. In 1989, in an effort to capitalize on the globalization of trade and continue to grow despite a slowing economy, Century orchestrated a merger with its largest Canadian competitor, Premdor.

In 2001, Premdor completed the acquisition of Masonite Corporation from International Paper Company, and in January 2002, officially changed its name to Masonite International Corporation. In its first quarter as Masonite International, the company reported increased sales of 19 per cent; net income increases of 85 per cent; and earnings per share increases of 55 per cent.

Under Philip Orsino, Century Wood Door, Premdor and now Masonite International are a classic business success story. To put the company's growth in perspective, in the past 12 years, sales have grown from $CDN 230 million in 1990 to an estimated CDN$ 2.4 billion in 2002. Century's single plant turned out 1,500 doors per day in 1984: today, Masonite produces 150,000 doors per day. Under Orsino's leadership, the company has successfully completed and integrated over 40 acquisitions in the past ten years, all of which were consistent with the company's corporate philosophy and strategy. In 1992, Philip was named the American Marketing Association's Business-to-Business Marketer of the Year. In 1998, he was named Ontario's Entrepreneur of the Year in the Manufacturing sector.

Recently ranked by The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek among the best business schools in the world, the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management offers leading-edge research and degree programs, including the prestigious Rotman MBA, the Rotman Part-Time MBA, the One-Year MBA for Executives, a first-rate Doctoral program, the distinctive Master of Management & Professional Accounting program, the undergraduate Commerce program in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Science, combined programs with the University of Toronto faculties of Law, Engineering and Nursing, and an innovative series of Executive Programs tailored to the current needs of businesses and individual managers.

For further information, please contact:

Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
105 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3E6
Voice: (416) 946-3818
Fax: (416) 978-1373
E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca