Michèle Breton, winner of the Jean-Marie Toulouse Engagement Award
November 24, 2022
For her outstanding contribution to the internal functioning and development of HEC Montréal, Professor Michèle Breton has been awarded the Jean-Marie Toulouse Engagement Award, during the annual awards ceremony that was held on November 23, 2022.
More information about the 2022 Research and Teaching Awards
Director of the Department of Decision Sciences, holder of the Research Professorship in Dynamic Optimization, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and member of the Group for Research on Decision Analysis (GERAD), Michèle Breton has on many occasions demonstrated her engagement towards the School since her start as a lecturer, in 1977.
She has been with HEC Montréal for 45 years, where she successively became full-time lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor and full professor. She has created or taken part in the creation of 65 programs, courses and training courses and has been a member of about 20 committees. She has also taught more than 30 different courses, supervised the research work of more than 100 students, and above all contributed significantly to the evolution of the School and its proper functioning.
In management for more than 30 years
Michèle Breton has held key administrative positions at HEC Montréal for more than 30 years, almost continuously and sometimes concurrently, notably as President of the Faculty Assembly and Director of:
- the Department of Management Sciences;
- the Master of Science and the PhD in Administration;
- the Center for Research on E-finance;
- calculation laboratories in finance and insurance/in data exploitation;
- Academic Programs.
Michèle Breton’s accomplishments as Director, Academic Programs have had a significant impact on the School’s functioning, as she has among other things contributed to:
- the online evaluation of teaching;
- the establishment of a single window at the Registrar’s Office; and
- the overhaul of the Academic Rules and Regulations.
Given the nature of the roles she has held over the years, she has also taken part in several of the School’s administrative entities, including the Academic Council, which she remained a member of for 18 years. She has also created the Mathematics and Statistics Help Centre and written a multitude of documents, notebooks, case studies and other teaching materials made available to students.
A most exceptional contribution
Specializing in dynamic optimization, game theory, decision analysis, mathematical models in finance, environment and energy, she has also strongly contributed to HEC Montréal’s influence. She has won the Pierre Laurin Award in 2004 as well as the Jean Guertin Award for Teaching Excellence, in 2018.
A respected mentor, she is also always available to guide her colleagues and students, and is committed to the success and integration of each member of the School. The numerous testimonials from her colleagues, mentioning her outstanding contribution to the community, attest to this, including that of Professor Emeritus Gilbert Laporte, who has supported her nomination for this Award.
“Michèle is intrinsically a committed and creative person who is always generous with her time; the School has benefited from this unique and effective combination for decades. In everything she does, she is dedicated to improving the welfare of the community.”
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