Transformative donation elevates student learning, research at TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Management

April 21, 2026

From left: TMU President Mohamed Lachemi, Provost and Vice-President, Academic Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, Ted Rogers School Dean Cynthia Holmes, and TRSS President Ayden Santiago.

TORONTO — A transformative philanthropic gift to the Ted Rogers School of Management will elevate student success and faculty research at Toronto Metropolitan University, the school announced today.

The anonymous pledge of $12.5 million is the second largest donation the Ted Rogers School has received.

“This gift to the Ted Rogers School is unique because it will fund a broad range of activities impacting students, faculty and research here at Canada’s largest business school. This is an opportunity to invest in excellence, to take everything our incredible students and faculty do every day to advance business knowledge and bring it to another level,” said Dr. Cynthia Holmes, Dean of the Ted Rogers School.

TMU President Mohamed Lachemi said the gift supports TMU’s mission, to advance applied knowledge and research that addresses societal needs. “With this visionary gift, we are confident great things are ahead for our researchers and students and the communities they serve," President Lachemi said.

This donation will fortify a number of the school’s key priorities related to students, including:

Protecting student access in a period of financial uncertainty
Expanding experiential learning opportunities
Catalyzing student-initiated entrepreneurship projects, so they graduate with a degree in one hand, and keys to their start-up in the other
Investing decisively in technology and innovation.

The gift includes: an expansion of the school’s Changemakers program, providing up to 70 co-op placements for students to work at non-profit organizations which often don’t have the financial capacity to hire students; a new experiential learning innovation fund granting up to 100 students the chance to explore international learning opportunities and compete in international competitions; as well as student entrepreneurship fellowships and a student technology fund.

“What excites me most about this gift is how wide its reach is. This gift doesn't just open doors for us, it builds entirely new ones,” said Ayden Santiago, President of the Ted Rogers Student Society. “These are the kinds of experiences that transform students into leaders, and it reflects exactly the kind of bold, values-driven thinking we aspire to as Ted Rogers School students.”

Great student learning opportunities begin with great teachers and mentors. The gift will also invest in our business researchers. In 2007, the Loretta Rogers Research Chair Program was established in honour of the wife of the school’s namesake, communications innovator Ted Rogers. It attracts outstanding scholars to advance and enrich innovative and societally relevant research and learning experiences at Ted Rogers School. Now, a key component of this new donation will be the creation of the Loretta Rogers Global Research Impact fund, aimed at promoting innovative business research.

“The fund will provide for the support of faculty researchers, particularly to help emerging research leaders in advancing their careers. As well there is additional money for grants and fellowships, tools, technology and research centres, institutes and labs,” said Dr. Hong Yu, interim Associate Dean, Research, at the Ted Rogers School. “We are so grateful that this gift recognizes the excellence of our faculty, and we know it will energize our research community to even greater success and global impact.”