Joseph C. Paradi

Paradi restarted his relationship with the University of Toronto in 1983, as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. He joined the University as a permanent staff member in 1989, after his exit from the commercial sector. He served at the University of Toronto for over 15 years, as a distinguished professor and retired in 2006. But he did not leave the University as he continued to teach courses on entrepreneurship and carried on research. During his tenure, he has supervised 17 Ph.D. theses and 62 Master's theses, 7 postdoctoral students, and 5 other researchers, in addition to 186 undergraduate theses involving 254 students in engineering.

Paradi commenced his career as a senior information technology expert when he founded Dataline Inc., a computer-services company, in 1969. Paradi sold the company to a U.S. firm in late 1987 and left the company in 1989 after serving for 20 years.

Paradi pursued his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 1961. He then enrolled in a master's program a year after his graduation. Paradi also completed his PhD. from the University of Toronto in 1975.

Born in 1941, he started skating at the age of 2 as his parents were ice dancing champions in Hungary. He played competitive junior hockey in Hungary at age 14 and also was the national speed skating champion for his age group. The 1956 revolution in Hungary put an abrupt end to all of this and with his parents he left his birth country in November 1956 and emigrated to Canada from England the year after.