Subway Mogul Donates $1 Million to Concordia University

A Concordia University graduate who now serves as president and chief executive of OhCal Foods, a California-based independent contractor for Subway restaurants in Los Angeles County, has surprised his Montreal alma mater with a $1 million donation. Hardeep Grewal graduated from Concordia with a commerce degree in 1983, and spent a dozen years in the city. Why return more than three decades later with such a generous gift? "The hardest times are the ones you remember in life," the 60-year-old Grewal told the Gazette. The paper reported that as boss of OhCal Foods, Grewal "oversees 2,100 Subway restaurants and helps develop the brand in California, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and southern Ontario."

Grewal and his wife Patwant also own eight other restaurants. Incredible, when you consider that Grewal, the son of sugar-cane farmers, "came to Canada from India in 1972 with $7 in his pocket," as the CBC reported. The $1 million will go towards the endowment of MBA scholarships at the John Molson School of Business. In gratitude, Concordia will rename an atrium after Grewal and his wife.