Sophie Chandauka MBE will receive the Kenneth J. Shouldice Professional Achievement Award at the annual Alumni Awards banquet during Great Lake State Weekend on Friday, October 21. The Shouldice Award, established in 1994, honors individuals whose personal and professional successes serve as outstanding examples to LSSU graduates. Dr. Shouldice is, in many ways, the founding father of today’s Lake Superior State University. As the first chancellor and president (1965-1982), he guided the campus from a two-year branch of Michigan Technological University to an autonomous four-year college.
Sophie graduated from LSSU in 2000 with a BSc. in Political Science – Pre-Law (summa cum laude). She was the student respondent for her graduating class and received the Paul Ripley Young Alumnus Award in 2008.
“The Kenneth J. Shouldice Library was my favorite place to be on campus, and so it is a huge honor to receive the Shouldice Achievement Award many years later,” shared Sophie. “Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation”. I agree with this statement wholeheartedly, and I am deeply grateful for the boost and confidence that LSSU gave to me all those years ago.”
Sophie is the Head of Americas Risk Management and Intelligence for Meta, parent company of Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus. Previously, Sophie was Global COO of Shared Services and Banking Operations at Morgan Stanley. Prior to this, as Head of Group Treasury (Legal) at the Virgin Money Group, she led £13BN of capital raising in four years, including Virgin Money’s IPO as a FTSE 250 on the London Stock Exchange. As a Senior Associate at Baker McKenzie she advised public companies such as Nike and The Body Shop.
A campaigner for diversity, equity and inclusion, Sophie is Head of Race Equity Strategy for the 30% Club; member of The Executive Leadership Council; Chair of The Network of Networks (TNON); Chair and Executive Founder of the Black British Business Awards.
Born in southern Africa and, through various merit-based scholarships, educated in Canada, the US and UK, Sophie is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and has served on boards including Sentebale, founded by Prince Harry for children affected by HIV and the Advisory Board Member of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. In 2021, Sophie was honored by HM Queen Elizabeth II as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to diversity in business.
“I have had the immense privilege of working in phenomenal companies globally delivering economic value and social impact in ways I could have never imagined,” said Sophie. “LSSU gave me the greatest gifts of all: the privilege of an education through a scholarship, world class guidance from my academic supervisor, Dr Gary Johnson, who had “great expectations” and a community of peers and staff who welcomed me into their homes when I was away from my own home, Zimbabwe.”
Sophie will be delivering a public campus talk on Thursday, October 20th during Great Lake State Weekend. Her talk will be open to alumni, current students, and the general public.
