HEC

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Louis Chênevert is an accomplished executive who has spent his career leading the world’s most successful manufacturing companies. A Montréal native, he started his career with General Motors, working at its Sainte-Thérèse factory in the area. He joined aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in 1993 and eventually served as president from 1999-2006, a period of growth and product innovation.

At Pratt’s parent company, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), Mr. Chênevert served as COO, president, and a director before being named CEO in 2008 and Chairman in 2010. By the time he retired in December 2014, the multinational corporation had grown to revenues approaching $70 billion and a market cap of $105 billion.

Before all these accomplishments, however, Louis Chênevert studied at HEC Montréal, earning a bachelor’s degree in production management. The university later bestowed an honorary doctorate on him in 2010, in recognition of his successful business career and commitment to his alma mater. He is one of the school’s most prominent graduates. Over the decades, Mr. Chênevert has remained a dedicated supporter of HEC Montréal, contributing his time, leadership, and resources to advance the university’s mission.

About HEC Montréal

HEC Montréal—the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal—is the graduate business school of the Université de Montréal. One of the top business schools in Canada and the foremost in Quebec, HEC Montréal was established in 1907 as the country’s first business school. It offers undergraduate, MBA and other master’s degrees, PhD, and executive education programs in French as well as English. Uniquely, the school holds three international business accreditations: AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA. Fewer than 1 percent of all business schools can claim this distinction.

International Advisory Board

Mr. Chênevert serves as chairman of the HEC Montréal International Advisory Board, which includes executives from around the world who help to steer the school’s globalization strategy and strengthen its international network. HEC Montréal draws students not only from across Canada, but from around the world. It also maintains 198 partner institutions on five continents, including Tsinghua University in China, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), IAE France, and more.

Mr. Chênevert is joined on the board by other business leaders such as Alain Batty, Hélène Desmarais, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Berthe Latreille, Michel Patry, Thierry Vandal, and Charles Sirois.

Friends of HEC Montréal

Mr. Chênevert is also chairman and a founding director of the Friends of HEC Montréal, an organization based in the United States that encourages US financial support for the school, especially among US-based alumni in the business world. The Friends work to make it easier to provide cross-border tax-deductible donations and set up corporate gift-matching programs to benefit the school.

In 2023, the Friends of HEC Montréal helped the school’s foundation amass over $14 million in contributions from thousands of alumni and donors. Of that total, $2.7 million went to scholarships for students, $9.5 million was allocated as management research funding, and $2.1 million was invested in the Hélène Desmarais building project.

EMBA Class Patron

In 2014, Mr. Chênevert was invited to serve as class patron of the McGill-HEC Montréal executive MBA class. The program extended this honor to a leading business executive every year, inviting them to share their knowledge and experiences with the cohort.

A speech he gave at the orientation for the class shared some of the hallmarks of his leadership style:

  • Be willing to take risks.
  • Be willing to take on jobs others shy away from.
  • Never neglect problems. Take action to solve them when they arise.
  • Talk to the front lines. These workers know the real problems and have good ideas for solutions.
  • Don’t be afraid to hire people smarter than you.
  • Motivate and inspire employees by being inspired and motivated yourself.

Support for a Modern New Campus

The Hélène Desmarais building project began in 2022 and involved the construction of a new HEC Montréal facility in the center of Montréal’s business district. To support the project, Mr. Chênevert and his family donated $500,000