A four-year degree — 40 years later

In 1979, Alex Mouriopoulos was one year shy of his honours degree in geography when he got into law school at Osgoode Hall — so he left Mac with a three-year degree, rather than the four-year credentials he’d signed up for.

Now he’s the CEO and chief legal officer of SilkPort Capital Canada for a branch of their foreign banking institution – but that missing year always bugged him.

“Getting my honours degree has always been at the back of my mind,” explains Mouriopoulos. “It felt unfinished – and I’ve never not finished something that I started.”

40 years later, he came back to school for that fourth year, and will receive his honours degree at the Social Sciences convocation ceremony on June 12. (In 1979, geography was part of the Faculty of Social Sciences, rather than the Faculty of Science.)

Mouriopoulos credits his workplace with being flexible enough to allow him to go back to school full time – and says he’s noticed some important differences between being at school in the late ’70s and now.

“When I found out that students were buying more coffee than beer, I was stunned,” he laughs. “Of course, I grew up in a time when you could walk down to Burlington Street and a high school diploma would get you a good job. My classmates don’t have that kind of fallback now, so they’re much more serious.”

This is probably not the last time Mouriopoulos will walk through Mac’s halls, or across a convocation stage. A master’s degree, he says, is likely his next challenge.

“I love learning – I’d rather watch a documentary than Big Bang Theory,” he says. “Human geography – people and the environment they live in – is immediately relatable. It’s all around us – and it’s fascinating to study.”