Pathways and possibilities: Alumni career stories

Darren Dahl is the Dean of the UBC Sauder School of Business and the RBC Financial Group Professor of Entrepreneurship. He is internationally recognized for his research in strategic marketing, entrepreneurship, creativity, and social influence. An award-winning academic, he has received the Killam Research Prize and the 3M Teaching Fellowship. In 2015, the American Marketing Association ranked him as the top professor worldwide for marketing research. He also serves widely as a consultant for multinational corporations.

Joanne Hon has more than 25 years of financial technology, investment, insurance, legal, and professional services experience in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2024, she was appointed Managing Director of Equinix Hong Kong, leading the company’s business strategy. Previously, she held leadership positions at multinational companies and technology firms, including Thomson Reuters, Mercer, Dealogic, CPA Global, and Broadridge. She holds a master’s degree in Financial Management from the University of London, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Asian Studies from UBC. She serves on the boards of several NGOs, including the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association, and Child Development Centre.

Sonny Wu’s career highlights bold pivots across industries, geographies, and emerging technologies. After co-founding GSR Ventures in 2004 and chairing GSR Capital, he is now Chairman and CEO of Xian Electron Corporation. He studied engineering physics at UBC and UC Berkeley before beginning his career at Bell Northern Research in Ottawa. In the 1990s, he led Nortel’s strategic investments in China, helping to launch the country’s first waves of semiconductor and wireless CDMA manufacturing joint ventures. He is also a Sloan Fellow from MIT and a founding trustee of the Southern China University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen since 2012.

Peter Zhou is the Executive Vice President, China President, of Ivanhoe Mines. Since joining Ivanhoe Mines, he has established Ivanhoe’s China entity and been bridging Chinese interests in developing the company’s mining projects in Africa. Previously at BMO Capital Markets, he executed more than 10 Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions and financing projects. He has extensive experience in capital markets, insightful knowledge of regulatory procedures, and a broad business network in China. He had also been a professional Counter-Strike video gamer for two years and represented Team China in the 2003 World Cyber Games. He graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Mathematics.