In this article published by The Guardian’s Leadership Hub, one of the most famous graduates from UofT Engineering, Jeff Skoll, discusses his new movie Merchants of Doubt, based on the bestselling book about how climate change deniers have adopted the same techniques as the tobacco industry in influencing public opinion. Skoll also expresses his belief that entrepreneurial leaders have an obligation to lead on sustainability and social impact: “Young entrepreneurs in general feel they’re too busy running their companies, which I think is a mistake. But once they’re older, you see much more of a propensity to be involved in philanthropy. Look at Marc Benioff, who founded Salesforce.com and is a great philanthropist. Even people that are just getting started are good examples for others. Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz have at least started doing some things: supporting schools, some environmental involvement.”
Skoll graduated with a BASc with honors in 1987 from the University of Toronto’s electrical engineering program. While an undergraduate student, he co-edited the engineering students’ satirical newspaper The Toike Oike.