Nevil Knupp makes his match and creates student opportunities
Nevil Knupp
Business Information/Administration ’82, Business Management ’86
Vice-President, Data and Business Development, CARFAX Canada
In his first year at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Nevil Knupp unexpectedly won a Dean’s List award — a moment of affirmation that he cherishes to this day.
Nevil admits that during high school, he was a handful for his parents. But when he landed in the computerized business program at the Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM), he found his path. He excelled in the program and even mentored fellow students who were struggling in the computer labs.
Nevil was hired by IBM during a campus interview and began a 36-year career there, starting as a programmer and progressing to running IBM Canada’s cloud computing division.
But Nevil always maintained his connection to his alma mater, in gratitude for the foundational education that helped him establish his career. When Nevil learned that IBM had a program where employee charitable donations would be matched 1:1, he had the idea to set up awards at TMU to support students.
The THINKTeam Award goes to a student in the information technology program who demonstrates financial need and a commitment to the success of their peers. The Herman Schneider Memorial Award for Excellence in Co-op, named in honour of the main founder of cooperative education, supports business students in TRSM’s co-op program.
“I love cooperative education,” Nevil said, noting at IBM there was a very large co-op program while he was there, and he had the opportunity to work closely with a rotating team of five or six students in his department. Nevil’s goal is to eventually land a TMU co-op or two at his current employer, CARFAX Canada. Co-op assignments help the students gain valuable work experience and networks and they bring fresh thinking to the companies who hire them. “It’s a great opportunity for the students and they always add a lot of value.”
Starting from his time in the 1980s helping out his classmates to now, Nevil has been uplifting generations of TMU alumni. And it all began with that Dean’s List award that Nevil received more than 40 years ago.
“The feeling of pride when I won that first award has stayed with me forever, and giving the opportunity for somebody else to feel that is really what motivated me to do it in the first place.”
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