[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/teresa-cascoli-1.jpg” caption=”Alumna Teresa Cascioli ’83, former CEO of Lakeport and recipient of the 2008 Wayne C. Fox Distinguished Alumni Award. Below, George Steiner, operations management professor and recipient of the Faculty Research Award of Excellence.”]

The DeGroote School of Business will recognize outstanding leadership at its annual Accolades event on April 3.

Alumna Teresa Cascioli, former CEO of Lakeport, will be presented with the 2008 Wayne C. Fox Distinguished Alumni Award. Cascioli, who coined the slogan “24 for $24” and sparked a price war in the competitive beer industry that changed the way beer is marketed, graduated from DeGroote in 1983 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

“My education from McMaster gave me both the technical business skills and the foundation for my future career,” she explains. “It gave me an opportunity to see the world of business from a whole host of angles. As an entrepreneur who makes decisions about people, manufacturing, marketing and pricing, you must have an understanding about all aspects of business in order for you to be able to make those “right” decisions.”

Cascioli has been an active member of the McMaster University and the DeGroote School of Business alumni communities. She was a speaker at the McMaster Alumni Connection Luncheon series, was inducted in the McMaster Alumni Gallery in 2004 and currently serves on the University's Campaign Cabinet.

In December, she announced a $1-million donation to fund the Teresa Cascioli Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership. It was her first major donation since establishing the Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation.

“Teresa's considerable experience and demonstrated success is a model for business students with dreams of mastering the complexities and pitfalls that come with running a business,” says Paul Bates, dean of the DeGroote School of Business. “Her commitment to McMaster and DeGroote is a model for our alumni, and we are very proud to recognize her continuing support with the Distinguished Alumni Award.”

DeGroote will also present the Faculty Research Award of Excellence to operations management professor George Steiner. Steiner began his career at McMaster in 1981 and became chair of the Management Science & Information Systems area at DeGroote in 1989.

His area of expertise is in production planning and scheduling problems and the development of analytical models for efficient allocation of resources among competing activities. He has published in the top journals in his field and received significant funding from the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council.

“Tonight, we will recognize leaders in the student community, in the research community, and in the alumni community. We are very proud of the accomplishments of all of the members of the DeGroote community,” says Bates.