posted on April 5: Wayne C. Fox Distinguished Alumni Award goes to Board of Governors chair

The Michael G. DeGroote School of Business is pleased to announce that Edward A. Minich, MBA '74, is the third recipient of the Wayne C. Fox Distinguished Alumni Award.

This is the second such award that Minich, Board of Governors chair, has been honoured with – he was inducted into the McMaster University Alumni Gallery in June 2000.

Minich received his Honours B.Sc. in psychology from McMaster in 1972, and continued on at the University to obtain his MBA. He joined Otis Canada Inc., right after his MBA graduation in June of 1974 and served in a variety of positions in Ontario, including sales, district manager and service manager.

In 1984, Minich moved his wife, two sons and three-week-old daughter to Boston where the family spent the next nine years. Minich held a variety of management positions during that tenure, including regional general manager for New England.

In February 1993, the family moved back to Canada when Minich became president and chief executive officer for Otis Canada. He is also director of the board.

Upon return to Canada, Minich decided to become involved with his alma mater.

I owe a lot of my success to McMaster and I have a great affection for the University. Like everyone else, my time is limited, so I chose to volunteer my time to McMaster. It has never felt like an extra burden, like some volunteer efforts tend to be. I like the people, I love the school and I enjoy being involved,” Minich says.

“My involvement with McMaster has been a labour of love, so I don't feel as though I've done anything particularly outstanding to deserve this award,” he says. “Being honoured with an award such as this (and I felt the same way when I was inducted into the Alumni Gallery last year), I feel that I have to work even harder now to prove I am worthy of the distinction.”

But Minich certainly has earned this distinction – he has served as a member of the McMaster Alumni Association Board of directors, he was a member of the MGD business advisory council for the last seven years, he served as a member and vice-chair of the University's Board Governors, and now sits as the chair of the Board of Governors – the university's largest governing body. In 1996, Minich established the Minich Family Bursary.

It is no wonder Minich has such fond memories of his days at McMaster – he met his wife Sian Marson Minich while she was studying here as well. Their son Andrew graduated with a B.Com degree in 1997, and son Matthew obtained a B.Sc. in Biology in 2001. Daughter Lesley is currently considering her options, but dad is hopeful she'll choose the family alma mater.