Gregory Vit

Professor Vit is an award-winning educator and researcher. He joined McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management in 2001 and is Associate Professor of Strategy & Organization, Professional (retired). Prior to the crash of 2008, Professor Vit was awarded the "Breaking the Frame Award" for the best paper in the Journal of Management Inquiry for 2007 for his paper: "The Multiple Logics of Conformity and Contrarianism: The Problem with Investment Banks and Bankers". Building upon this work, his book: “The Risk in Risk Management, The Problem of Conformity in Financial Organizations” was published by Routledge Press in 2013.

Professor Vit received the "Professor of the Year" award in 2013 for “teaching excellence” by the McGill Management Undergraduate Society.

Professor Vit's industry experience spans over three decades and includes working as an investment banker at the Bank of America, director at the International Centre for Monetary and Banking Studies at HEI, University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a financial derivatives expert at TD Securities Inc. in Capital Markets and Derivative Products.

In addition to his teaching and research, Professor Vit is also the former director of the award-winning Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship at McGill University. As academic director from 2007 to 2017, Professor Vit designed, launched, grew and managed several highly innovative entrepreneurship programs for McGill University student and professor start-ups. From zero, he created and funded the flagship McGill Lean Launchpad program, the McGill Dobson Cup Start-Up competition, and the McGill X-1 Accelerator programme (aided by colleagues at MIT), together with Demo days in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Toronto, and Montreal. At McGill, Professor Vit also created and connected a large network of very successful senior and junior McGill mentor entrepreneurs in Canada and internationally. These McGill alumni and friends of McGill have assisted over 600 McGill start-ups comprised of students and professors.

Professor Vit retired in 2021 and has maintained strong ties with the Desautels Faculty of Management. In 2021, The Professor Gregory Vit Entrance and In-Course Bursaries funds, were created which will perennially assist Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) undergraduates who need financial support to pursue their studies.

Professor Vit is currently Board Advisor to the John Dobson Foundation, and is CEO of Vit Innovation Thinking Inc.

Feature articles

• Desautels professor builds on teaching and entrepreneurship legacy by opening door to students in financial need