Caldwell, C. Douglas

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1996
C. DOUGLAS CALDWELL
to be Doctor of Letters

If Doug Caldwell were offering advice to the graduates here assembled, it would probably be to drive carefully. A car accident marred his graduation from UNB. Fortunately, that did not diminish his attachment to his alma mater nor his memories of his years here.

In a curious inversion of the typical pattern, Doug Caldwell came from Ontario to New Brunswick to learn what he could about business. In the late fifties, he entered UNB's fledgling program in business administration. Along with his studies he found time to serve in student government. When he completed his degree in 1960, he headed off into the world of business. After working for others for ten years, however, he decided that he would take a leap of faith in himself and launch his own company. Now, more than twenty-five years later, he is chairman and chief executive officer of a thriving executive search firm, The Caldwell Partners International Inc. He is the proverbial self-made man, and his company is tops in its field largely because of his efforts.

When he began, the idea of helping companies and executives find each other was largely uncharted turf in Canada, and Doug Caldwell was very much a pioneer in the field. But the idea quickly caught on, and the firm grew by leaps and bounds. In its first 10 years, it expanded from its base in Toronto into Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver, and opened its first international operation in London, England. In 1988, the company joined forces with an international organization of executive recruiting firms, Amrop International, and today it is represented in 66 countries worldwide. Since 1989, the company has been listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and it has earned handsome dividends for its investors. In its silver anniversary year, the company's annual report showed a phenomenal 40 percent increase in net income over the previous year. Over its first twenty-five years, the company grew at an average annual rate of 19 per cent. No wonder its stockholders are happy.

As much as Doug Caldwell is a man of business, however, he is also a family man with a strong sense of social responsibility. He has three children, all of them now university-educated, and the family enjoys sports and outings together. He has made certain also that his partners and employees have fun serving the community as they do with their innovative Caldwell Indy (on children's two-wheelers) to raise funds for the United Way. Personally, he has maintained a life¬long interest in education, served as a director of the Lakefield School, which he had attended as a youngster, was a trustee of the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, and a director or advisor to business schools and associations promoting business education.

His interest in promoting excellence in business management across Canada led him in 1990 to create the CEO of the Year Award, and last year he founded Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Awards, an annual recognition of 40 young Canadian leaders who have achieved noteworthy success before the age of 40. For a man whose energies have been spent recognizing excellence in others, it was a feather in his cap when the Harvard Business School recognized him by choosing his firm as a case study for its students.

Doug Caldwell is one of UNB's success stories, and his friends agree it could not have happened to a nicer guy. They describe him as lively, pleasant, and outgoing, a man with a smiling face behind which lies a shrewd intelligence and a hardworking personality. When it comes to executive searches, we at UNB need search no further than Doug Caldwell for a true friend and supporter of this University. We congratulate him for his notable achievement in business, and wish him continued success in the future.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3