Lassonde family commits $25 million to advance business education – Deseret News

When Pierre Lassonde and his wife, Claudette MacKay-Lassonde, arrived in Salt Lake City 54 years ago to attend graduate school at the University of Utah, the couple possessed one suitcase, limited English skills and barely enough cash to see them through Christmas.

“And Claudette was six months pregnant,” added Pierre Lassonde.

But the Lassondes tackled their new adventure, making the Utah campus — located far from their Canadian homeland — their second home.

“The University of Utah,” said Lassonde, “touched our lives.”

Now fast forward to today, more than a half-century since the Lassondes’ humble Beehive State arrival.

On Friday, the Lassonde Family Foundation, led by Pierre Lassonde, donated $25 million to foster continued growth at the University of Utah’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.

Friday’s gift, which comes as the institute prepares for its 25th anniversary next year, continues the Lassonde family’s ongoing interest and investment in the student-entrepreneur institute which bears their name.

The Lassonde Family Foundation has already donated about $25 million to the university in the past — so Friday’s donation almost doubles its total commitment.

Kurt Dirks, dean of the David Eccles School of Business, called the donation “a landmark gift” reinforcing the Lassonde family’s commitment to student success.

“Whenever I’ve heard Pierre talk, he’s always said: ‘This is for students by students’ — and this (financial gift) is something that does that so well.

“It makes our entrepreneurship education available for even more students at the business school, as well as across the entire university.”

The beneficiaries of the Lassonde family’s gift, added Dirks, will not only enjoy personal success in the future — “but create prosperity in the state of Utah and beyond.”

Meanwhile, University of Utah President Taylor Randall said the Lassonde Family Foundation gifts have transformed entrepreneurship education.

“Pierre Lassonde and the Lassonde Family Foundation have inspired us to reimagine what it means to teach entrepreneurship at a university,” Randall said.

“They have challenged us to focus on students and their ideas, hands-on learning, and to provide entrepreneurship education at a scale not available anywhere else. Every student at the University of Utah has the opportunity to get involved with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to launch a company or product and learn entrepreneurial skills such as creative problem solving, self-reliance and perseverance.”

‘Touching the lives of thousands’

When asked Friday why his family foundation is continuing its support of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, Pierre Lassonde noted that he has been involved in philanthropic enterprises at several universities and institutions.

“But the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is the one that has given me the most joy, by far,” he said.

Pierre Lassonde’s wife, Claudette, who died in 2000, was a fellow University of Utah graduate and later became the first female president of the Professional Engineers Ontario.

Today, Pierre Lassonde manages the family foundation with their children, Julie and Christian Lassonde.

After graduating from the University of Utah, Pierre Lassonde embarked on his own business career, working in construction and mining before launching the Franco-Nevada Mining Corporation, which would ultimately become a multibillion-dollar business success story.

Lassonde’s financial support of entrepreneurship education at the University of Utah began in 2001 and has continued ever since — highlighted by the construction, about a decade ago, of the sprawling Lassonde Studios.

The studios are home to hundreds of residential students and boast a 20,000-square-foot innovation space where student-entrepreneurs can connect, test ideas, build prototypes and launch companies.

Today’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is fueled by a Pierre Lassonde-inspired creed: “Live. Create. Launch.”

Lassonde finds pleasure knowing that the same university “that has touched me” is now “touching the lives of thousands of people” through the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.

“In philanthropy, the thing that one looks for most is how many lives can you touch for the better — and this program has done that at a level that we can’t even imagine.

“And we’re far from finished, It’s just going to get better and better.”

Seizing a vision; expanding entrepreneurship education

Business founders — including those at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute — come in all shapes and sizes. But success for each entrepreneur will likely be determined by his or her commitment to a vision.

That vision extends to the University of Utah’s entrepreneurship program, said Lassonde.

“We want this institute to be one of the top five in the United States … and bring in the very best students,” he said. “Not necessarily the most academically performing student — but the ones that have the grit to fail and then get up and do it again.”

Lassonde also hopes to expand the existing entrepreneurship education program — including its worldwide reach. Already the university’s Master of Business Creation program is enrolling globally in select locations around the world — including Africa, Canada and, soon, in Europe and India.

“We will be able to touch the lives of millions of people,” he added.

Dirks said Friday’s gift from the Lassonde family will help advance the vision of the University of Utah further becoming a gathering place where business-minded students “can come and really learn, hands-on; and to be able to learn by doing — and then take that forward to make a better life for themselves and for more prosperity for their community.”

Troy D’Ambrosio, the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute’s founding executive director, said the spirit and opportunities of entrepreneurship have been fueled jointly in the past by Pierre Lassonde and University of Utah leadership.

Ideas such as the Lassonde Studios and the MBC program, he added, have defined the university’s commitment to entrepreneurship over the past decade — while creating an unmatched campus experience.

“The resources are here to continue to innovate,” said D’Ambrosio.

“And as technology changes, I can see how this institute can grow dramatically and impact more and more lives and have more and more students having the opportunities that we’ve already provided for tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of students.”

The power of a student-entrepreneur community

A seasoned business owner such as Pierre Lassonde knows that founding and operating a company can be a lonesome endeavor — especially in the beginning.

The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute provides a vision-driven community to scores of student-business founders, he said. Each day, students experience life-changing moments as they bounce ideas off each other, connect with mentors and weather the day-to-day challenges of launching a business.

“Just having the opportunity to talk to other people may change your life and may provide that one clue that you were missing,” he said. “If you’re sitting on a couch at home watching TV, it’s not going to happen. So we provide that context for these people.”

D’Ambrosio said he has witnessed “success-via-cooperation” happen in real time at the Lassonde Studios.

“We had two students move in our first year — one was an engineer, one was a business student,” he recalled. “The business student had the idea. The engineer had the skill. They came together… They were in the same dorm room and built a company.

“That kind of ‘putting those two-halves of the equation together’ is part of what we envisioned, and it’s worked beyond any expectation.”

So how will the Lassonde gift be used?

Dirks said Friday’s $25 million gift will be used to expand the opportunity scope of the University of Utah’s business school and across the entire campus.

“We’re looking at how we can use (the gift) to also expand the Masters of Business Creation program.”

Pierre Lassonde said he and his family’s continued commitment to the University of Utah remains grounded in changing lives — both on the Salt Lake City campus and around the globe.

“The University of Utah is going to have a brand name that’s going to be worldwide, and that really gets me going,” said Lassonde.

“How many lives can we change for the better? I can’t even imagine. It’s going to be in the millions. And you never know — one of our companies may end up being an Apple, and then you’re talking billions of people.

“Let’s dream.”