St. F.X. business student awarded $45,000

White earns Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies

Luke White, a third year St. Francis Xavier University student in the Gerald Schwartz School of Business, is one of eight students from across Atlantic Canada recognized for their outstanding achievements as the recipient of the prestigious $45,000 Frank H. Sobey Awards for Excellence in Business Studies.

"We continue to be inspired by the talent, leadership and entrepreneurialism shining through students at Atlantic Canadian business schools," said Paul D. Sobey, chair of the board of trustees.

These award recipients are selected by the Frank H. Sobey Awards Board of Trustees, which is comprised of Atlantic Canadian business and academic leaders. The eight winners of the $45,000 award were chosen from 32 outstanding nominations provided by their deans of business, based on their entrepreneurship, supporting the communities in which they live and work, and their employment experience. Each of the remaining 24 exceptional nominees will receive a $3,500 prize in recognition of their inspiring achievements.

White is a third-year student at St. F.X. taking an advanced accounting major and a minor in computer science. He was born in Switzerland as a dual German-canadian citizen but raised in Vancouver, B.C. His entrepreneurial journey began in Grade 8 with a tennis racket stringing service, expanding into both for-profit and non-profit ventures over the years. In Grade 11, inspired by Jennifer Curleigh, he co-founded The Good Guys Charitable Foundation, raising over $20,000 to support the homeless in Vancouver with food, care packages and clothing. In the summer of 2023, he launched Window Wonders Window Cleaning, employing seven students and achieving a 4.9-star rating on Google Reviews, alongside interning full-time at KPMG, where he was offered a full-time position post-graduation.

At St. F.X., White is deeply involved in various activities, including being the president of the St. F.X. men’s tennis team, a portfolio manager on Xaverian Capital (the student investment fund), the captain of the JDCC Case Competition Business Strategy team, special events lead at the Motionballu for Special Olympics Society and the co-chair of the Pucks for Purpose Charity Hockey Game. The inaugural and recent Pucks for Purpose game on March 13, 2024, raised over $55,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society and motionball for Special Olympics — all in front of a packed arena. Since February 2024, White has also started working part-time with the Office of the Global Chairman and CEO of KPMG, where he’ll continue working full-time during the summer after exams are completed. And finally, he says coming to St. F.X. was one of the best decisions of his life.

Since 1989, the Frank H. Sobey Awards has awarded over $3.6 million to 223 emerging business leaders from Atlantic Canada. These exceptional business students and future leaders, along with the deans, will be honoured at an annual spring celebration of their amazing achievements.