Michel Vézina named a professor emeritus
December 9, 2024
HEC Montréal conferred the title of Professor Emeritus on Michel Vézina as a tribute to his outstanding contribution to teaching, research, and the development and renown of the School. This distinction is reserved for retired faculty members who were in the service of the School for at least 10 years. The official presentation took place at the graduation ceremonies on December 3, 2024.
The faculty members in the Department of Accounting unanimously supported his candidacy, citing not only the quality and quantity of his achievements, leadership and collaborative spirit, but also his outstanding commitment to HEC Montréal.
A career spanning nearly 40 years in HEC Montréal
Professor Vézina retired in September 2021 after an outstanding career spanning nearly 40 years at the School. He started out as a teaching intern in 1982, after having completed his Bachelor of Business Administration degree there. He also did his MSc (Information Systems option) there, before obtaining a diplôme d’études approfondies and a PhD in Management Sciences later on from Université de Montpellier II.
Professor Vézina’s dynamism and unwavering commitment were in full evidence during his 4 decades at HEC Montréal, as he shouldered various other responsibilities in addition to teaching:
- Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Gestion journal, which, under his leadership, helped strengthen the bridges between research and practice (2001 to 2006);
- Director of the Department of Accounting Studies, where he brilliantly managed a team of over 50 people, and even developed a frame of reference for the following years (2009 to 2012);
- Academic supervisor of the specialized graduate diploma (DESS) in Professional Accounting – CPA, masterfully leading the merger phase of the three professional orders – CA, CMA, CGA (2012 and 2013);
- Director of Certificate Programs, where he left his mark as a pioneer in online education (2013 to 2019).
Impressive contribution to the enrichment of teaching materials
Michel Vézina’s portfolio also includes 14 different courses taught in all of the School’s programs. Students appreciated him for his teaching skills, expertise and unwavering commitment to them, and he received the 2014 Award for Teaching Excellence.
He also provided unique leadership for the development of teaching materials by combining control, decision-making and information systems. His peers benefited from his enthusiasm and creativity both for designing cases that are well anchored in business reality, and for media that rely on computer or online systems. In addition to publishing articles in academic and professional journals, he has brought out 3 major books with colleagues from HEC Montréal, including Outils de contrôle stratégique, written with Hugues Boisvert, which formed the basis for courses in strategic control for over 10 years.
Great reputation in the business community
He was very involved in the professional environment, and also designed many tailor-made training courses that he provided as part of the HEC Montréal Executive Education activities and for various associations.
Named Fellow of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec (CPA) in 2014, he received several other awards during his career, including the HEC Montréal Teaching Innovation Award, the Excellence Award from the Order of CPAs, and the L.S. Rosen Award from the Canadian Academic Accounting Association. He also won the Minister's prize for higher education, along with his colleague Franck Barès, for implementing a short undergraduate program on designing entrepreneurial projects, which is offered 100% online to the global French-speaking community.