TORONTO, November 3, 2000 -- The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto announce the launch of the Jeffrey Skoll BASc/MBA Program. The Program provides a fast track for gifted students to complete their Bachelor degree in Engineering, a one-year internship, and an MBA in a period of five years and eight months.

“Many of our engineering graduates move into management and executive roles and benefit from a graduate degree in business,” says Michael Charles, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. “The Skoll Program will build on a solid core of expertise in the engineering disciplines with a strong focus on leadership, innovation, and the management of technology, enabling engineering students to obtain an outstanding education tailored to develop their aptitude for technological entrepreneurship.”

With the establishment of the Skoll Program, the University of Toronto is dramatically decreasing the amount of time required for students to complete both degrees independently. The program will help UofT attract talented students with both engineering and entrepreneurial aspirations.

“Many of the University’s undergraduate engineering alumni have identified new technologies by the time they graduate but lack the business skills required to manage their own businesses and careers”, says Peter Hughes, Director of the program at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. “The Jeffrey Skoll BASc/MBA Program at the University of Toronto will address this issue by providing students with the technical and business skills they will require in order to compete in the evolving world of business. Adds Hughes, “Students graduating from the combined program will have the knowledge and skills to develop complex technologies and to transfer these ideas into commercially viable ventures.”

“The influx of talented engineering students at the Rotman School will provide a source of motivation for all MBA students to enhance their own knowledge of the high-tech sector, particularly the emerging e-commerce industry,” says Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management. “Similarly, engineering students will benefit from the significant real-world work experience and demonstrated leadership capabilities that other MBA students have obtained prior to beginning their graduate business degrees.”

The Jeffrey Skoll BASc/MBA Program is supported through a $7.5M gift in 1999 from Jeffrey S. Skoll, a 1987 graduate of the electrical engineering program at UofT and co-founder of online auction house giant eBay Inc. The gift established a Chair in Computer Networks and Innovation and a Chair in Software Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and a Chair in Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Rotman School of Management. The gift will also contribute to the creation of the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, currently under construction on the St. George Campus at UofT.

Ken McGuffin
Media Relations Officer
Rotman School of Management
Voice: (416) 946-3818
Fax: (416) 978-1373
E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca

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