Ian Friendly, Com’83, has been giving back to Queen’s almost since the day he graduated. Now he is doing it again — and in a big way.
The retired executive of General Mills has gifted $1 million to Smith School of Business for new awards aimed at supporting female graduate students pursuing careers in artificial intelligence and faculty members advancing Indigenous reconciliation through their research.
This follows on the heels of three other awards that Friendly and his wife Carol have established at Smith since 2008: the Ian and Carol Friendly Leadership Entrance Award; the Ian R. Friendly Marketing Scholarship; and the Ian R. Friendly Fellowship in Marketing.
“I’ve been donating in some amount since my very early years after graduation,” says Friendly. “I always appreciated what Queen’s did for me and wanted to help others get access to the same experience.”
The new Ian R. Friendly Women in AI Graduate Scholarship, valued at $500,000, will support awards to female students in the Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence (MMAI) program on the basis of academic excellence. Preference will be given to Canadian and U.S. residents.
The second new gift, the Ian R. Friendly Indigenous Initiatives Fund, is also valued at $500,000. It will support faculty members pursuing research, thought leadership and programs that advance Indigenous business knowledge and contribute to economic reconciliation. Preference will be given to Indigenous faculty members.
Both gifts target important areas at Smith and are causes that Friendly says are critical to focus on right now.
“While AI is still in its early stages, it is already profoundly impacting marketing and really all areas of society,” he says. “This will be cutting edge for years to come, and I think Smith has a real opportunity to innovate and lead.”
But true innovation and leadership can only happen through true diversity. So the AI Graduate Scholarship is intended to help attract and fund female candidates and help them to grow their careers in the artificial intelligence field (only 22 per cent of AI professionals are women according to a 2022 report from the World Economic Forum).
Ceren Kolsarici, associate professor and director of the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics (SCCA) at Smith, says establishing the scholarship is an important step to advancing women in artificial intelligence. “At SCCA, one of our core passions is empowering women to take on leadership roles in AI — a critical step toward addressing the gender equity gap in this rapidly evolving field,” she says.
“Ian’s support not only advances our mission but will also enhance the diversity of thought and innovation that is so crucial for the future of AI,” adds Kolsarici, who is also the Ian R. Friendly Fellow of Marketing at Smith.
With the new Indigenous Initiatives Fund, Friendly sees his gift as being in line with the university’s focus on supporting Indigenous business knowledge. “We have some personal interest in supporting this work and are excited to see what comes of it,” he says.
An impactful education
Friendly himself almost didn’t go to Queen’s. But as he said during a Queen’s Convocation address in 2015, he eventually listened to “that little voice inside” that was telling him to attend what he considered to be Canada’s best university.
Looking back, he couldn’t be happier he did.
“Queen’s had a huge impact on my career,” he says. “I started off thinking I would go to law school after a couple of years. But Queen’s Commerce ignited my interest in business overall, and marketing in particular.”
The late marketing professor Dan Monieson played a big role in sparking that interest, he says.
“He made us appreciate that business was more than just a set of technical skills and could be something quite intellectual and societally focused. I would on occasion stop by to see him during office hours, where his warm and kind personality would shine through along with his counsel and advice.”
After graduating from the Commerce program in 1983, Friendly began his career as a marketing assistant with General Mills Canada. Over the next 30 years, he took on progressively broader marketing and leadership roles at General Mills, including chief executive officer of Cereal Partners Worldwide and president of Yoplait USA. He retired in 2014 as the executive vice-president and chief operating officer of General Mills’ U.S. retail segment.
Meeting students
The Friendlys set up their first named gift to Smith in 2008 — the Ian and Carol Friendly Leadership Entrance Award. The award now supports students entering first year in the Commerce program, based on academic excellence and financial need, and is renewable for all four years of their time in the program.
It has been a particularly poignant gift for Friendly, who grew up in a humble household in Ottawa. “I know I could not have attended Queen’s without assistance and scholarships, and I wanted to pay that forward,” he says.
Over the years, he has met many of the recipients of that first gift, and “they are a truly remarkable group,” he says. “I always leave those encounters with a warm and joyful feeling in my heart, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to support them.”
Now Friendly is looking forward to supporting even more students and faculty through his two new gifts.
This story first appeared on Smith School of Business.
