UVic Business Honours Telecommunications Titan

Sir Terry Matthews, a technology entrepreneur and investor in telecommunication ventures, is the University of Victoria Faculty of Business’ 2009 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year. The annual award acknowledges an inspirational entrepreneur who has had a significant and positive impact on the global community through his or her business leadership.

As chair of the Mitel Corporation, Matthews has established the company as a world leader in the design and manufacture of enterprise voice systems. He is also founder and chair of Wesley Clover, a world-class investment group with offices in the UK, North America, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

“Terry Matthews has made a significant contribution to global economic prosperity, and his support for students and universities is unsurpassed,” says Dr. Ali Dastmalchian, dean of business. “We believe there is great potential for our students and faculty, Victoria and BC to work with Terry and Wesley Clover to bring more high-tech companies to our province.”

Earlier this year, Matthews spoke to business and engineering students about entrepreneurship and opportunities for them to be a part of the Wesley Clover New Ventures Technology program. Under its internship program, selected students and recent graduates are given a business idea and work in teams of four or five to bring a product to market in 12 to 18 months or less.

“Timing, hard work, smarts and partners. Using that formula, I’ve either founded or invested in over 80 companies, and none have gone bankrupt. Most have done very well,” says Matthews.

Matthews holds an honours degree in electronics from the University of Wales, Swansea and is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 1994, he was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire, and in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was awarded a knighthood.

Matthews will receive the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year award at a gala, black-tie event on May 19 at the Victoria Conference Centre. He joins an elite circle of distinguished entrepreneurs: Clive Beddoe, a founding shareholder and executive chair of WestJet (2008); David Black, founder of Canada’s largest privately owned newspaper publishing company (2007); Gwyn Morgan, who established EnCana Corp. as the country’s largest energy company (2006); Dave Ritchie, chairman of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (2005); and Jeff Mallett, former president and chief operating officer of Yahoo (2004).
 

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