There are few business school deans these days who can claim to have the scale of influence over their business school as Dezsö Horváth, boss of Canada’s Schulich School of Business York University at on the outskirts of Toronto.

Though the business school was set up just 40 years ago – York University itself is just 50 years old – Prof Horváth has been on the faculty of the school for 31 years. For the past 20 of those he has been dean: he started his fifth five-year term in July.