UNB News
News and stories from one of Canada’s top universities

Dr. Devashis Mitra, dean of the Faculty of Management at UNB, Feiber Omana and Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle, UNB president and vice-chancellor.

When Feiber Omana (BBA’06) first came to the University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) Fredericton campus as an international student from Colombia, he worked two jobs to make ends meet. Not only did he do that, but he also finished that first year with the highest university-wide GPA. Over his time on campus, he won scholarships, continued working and became very active on campus – and went on to graduate with a perfect GPA as the Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medalist.

That work ethic continued over his academic and corporate career: he attained an MBA with the highest distinction from Harvard Business School; was involved with over a dozen merger and acquisition transactions totaling over $10 billion; then moved to Shaw Communications where he played a key role in the telecom company’s strategic realignment.

Then, in 2021, he became a key contributor to what would become the largest transaction in Canadian telecom history and the third largest in corporate Canadian history – the sale of Shaw to Rogers.

In April 2023, after over two years of intense negotiations, a regulatory battle, fierce public opinion, and finally, government approval, the $26 billion transaction was completed, creating one national cable, media and wireless company under the Rogers banner.

Now on a well-deserved sabbatical period, Omana has returned to UNB as executive-in-residence at UNB’s Faculty of Management and has been inducted in the Alumni Wall of Fame.

“There are few leaders today who have achieved so much at such a young age, and we are proud to acknowledge Omana’s accomplishments with the Certificate of Achievement and by inducting him as the newest member of our Alumni Wall of Fame,” said Devashis Mitra, dean of the Faculty of Management.

“Omana was an impressive student and has had an equally impressive career,” said Paul Mazzerolle, UNB’s president, commented. “He’s made a big impact in industry and is also impacting and inspiring students and young alumni coming after him. He has contributed to scholarships at UNB and is involved with the Faculty of Management and Centre for Financial Studies advisory boards. He certainly makes us proud that he is a UNB alumnus.”

Omana was at a lunch reception where he received the award on Friday.

“I’m very excited to get back to campus and share my experience with the students who will become the next generation of business leaders,” said Omana. “It’s humbling to receive this award. It may seem when you hear about accomplishments that it was an easy path, but it never is. There are hurdles – both seen and unseen to overcome.”

“I was lucky to find mentors and people who sponsored me right from the beginning at UNB, and now it’s wonderful if I can help people shine. I’m so grateful to those who have done that for me and I look forward to continuing to pay it forward.”

Read more about Omana’s career and his behind-the-scenes look at the deal between Rogers and Shaw.