As hundreds of M.B.A. students settled in at the Business School last week, the biggest name on campus belonged to a returning alumnus who graduated 47 years ago.

William P. Wilder, MBA '50, a prominent Canadian executive, financier, and philanthropist and a generous benefactor to the Business School, was on hand with family members, friends, and other guests on the afternoon of Sept. 9 to witness and participate in ceremonies that named one of the School's important buildings in his honor.

Part of the original 1925 campus plan and opened in 1927 as the Student Club, the handsome, cement-faced structure facing the lawn in front of Baker Library has also served over the years as an Executive Education facility and as the School's Doctoral House, the center of administrative and other services benefiting hundreds of doctoral candidates.

Since 1975, it has remained a focus of campus activity as the Career Development Center. Now to be known permanently as Wilder House, the recently renovated building will continue to offer a broad array of career services that benefit the broader Business School community, from career counseling for students to placement services for both students and alumni.

Bill Wilder is one of Canada's best known and most highly respected business leaders. In addition, his longtime commitment and generosity to the Business School have left a lasting mark. The William P. Wilder Financial Aid Fund provides assistance to Canadian students attending the Business School. In addition, he has been a key contributor to and advocate for the HBS Canadian Initiative, a major fundraising campaign that will enable a highly diverse group of Canadian applicants to attend the School.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony, where he expressed the Business School's gratitude to Wilder, Dean Kim B. Clark noted that from its founding in 1908, HBS has focused on educating leaders. "It is wonderful to be able to honor a person whose life captures that mission," Clark said. "Bill Wilder is a leader who has made a great difference in this world. He has spent a lifetime not only making the most of the opportunities he had, but also creating opportunities for others through the results of his own success. Bill has set a standard for the rest of us in his service and loyalty to his family and friends, to his School, and to his country."

Added former Dean John H. McArthur, "Bill is just the kind of graduate that all of us in the extended Business School community admire and respect so much. His life and works in Canada stand as an eloquent expression of just what we hope our graduates can achieve in their communities around the world."

Another friend and HBS alumnus at the dedication, fellow Canadian Ralph M. Barford, a member of the Class of 1952, praised the extensive charitable contributions made by Wilder and his wife, Billie, to numerous worthy organizations. "The Wilders have been wonderfully generous in Canada in giving their time and resources to charitable, educational, and national causes," Barford said. "I can't think of any other citizens I admire more for having shared the talents they possess."

Born and raised in Toronto, Wilder served three years overseas on destroyers during World War II before earning a bachelor of commerce degree from McGill University in 1946. He then took a job as a bond salesman at the Toronto-based investment bank of Wood Gundy & Company Ltd., but soon concluded that he needed further education. Following the suggestion of friends that he study at HBS, Wilder arrived at the School in September 1948. He found the curriculum and case method very much to his liking, particularly as he came under the influence of his mentor, the legendary Professor Georges Doriot.

In his remarks at the dedication, Wilder noted that his two years at Harvard provided an experience whose impact has lasted a lifetime. "Without HBS," he said, "I certainly would not have achieved so much in my career. The Business School was the making of me."

Graduating in 1950, Wilder returned to Wood Gundy as a clerk and quickly moved up through the ranks of corporate finance and institutional sales. He was named executive vice president in 1961 and president in 1967.

After five years as head of the prestigious firm, Wilder retired in 1972 to take on a different sort of challenge in the world of politics and public policy. At the request of leaders in Canada's ruling Liberal Party, he agreed to head a $5 billion initiative designed to bring together a consortium of more than 20 major corporations that wanted to build a natural gas pipeline across Canada. Wilder spent the next half-decade in pursuit of that goal, but a variety of opposing forces took their toll, including an election that eliminated the Liberals' clout in Parliament. As a result, the pipeline was never built.

Wilder, however, won considerable praise for his efforts from the business community and moved on, first to a top position at Gulf Canada and then, in 1979, to the Consumers' Gas Company Ltd., Canada's largest natural gas distributor. After stints as president and CEO (and later deputy chairman) of Consumers' Gas, he retired for a second time in 1984.

Since then, Wilder has devoted himself to a broad spectrum of activities. He is chairman of the Creemore Springs Brewery (a microbrewery in Toronto), serves on several corporate boards, and manages the affairs of his charitable foundation.