Media Relations Home > Press Releases > October 2009 Archives >

Intellectual Entrepreneurship in Montreal’s Universities: a Call to Action

• E-mail this to a friend
• Printable version
• En français

MONTREAL/October 20, 2009—

Judith Woodsworth, president and vice-chancellor of Concordia University, addressed The Canadian Club yesterday afternoon. She characterized universities as the drivers of economic, social and cultural strength, and called on the assembled business leaders to form partnerships with Montreal’s universities for their mutual benefit. She pointed out their influence is needed to help enhance the quality of university education through more generous public funding. Woodsworth also urged that more be done, stating “we have neglected to nurture and to harness the human and intellectual capital of our postsecondary institutions. We must now look through a new lens to provide more intellectual and financial support for teaching and research.”

Woodsworth also pointed to the achievements of Montreal universities, saying “despite funding challenges, Montreal universities have been successful in the race for the best minds through recruiting strategies that include taking advantage of our city as a destination for rising intellectual talent.” She noted the increasingly intense global competition for talent, and the key role of Montreal’s universities in attracting and retaining it.

Woodsworth warned, however, that continued success now depends on the business community’s willingness to view Montreal universities as “drivers of economic development and centres of intellectual entrepreneurship, with the capacity and the know-how to address societal and economic challenges”. Woodsworth suggested several ways in which business leaders could forge new collaborations with universities by:

- helping incubate ideas and transfer research from the laboratory to the marketplace
- working with government and community representatives to identify opportunities that help focus entrepreneurial efforts
- developing cost-effective incentives to encourage entrepreneurial engagement with identified opportunities, including targeted tax incentives and infrastructure support
- hiring graduates and providing internships and job opportunities through cooperative programs

For the full text of Judith Woodsworth’s speech to the Canadian Club, please go to: Judith Woodsworth Address

- 30 -

Source:

Fiona Downey
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
Phone: (514) 848-2424, ext. 2518
Cell: (514) 518-3336
Fax: (514) 848-3383
Email: fdowney@alcor.concordia.ca