Director and Palmer Chair appointed for School of Public Policy

President and Vice-Chancellor Elizabeth Cannon on Thursday announced the appointment of Pierre-Gerlier Forest as director and the James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair for The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, effective March 1, 2016.

Pierre-Gerlier Forest is an accomplished and influential researcher, educator and administrator in the field of public policy with Canadian and international experience. He is renowned in Canada and abroad for delivering policy and intellectual leadership that spans the academic, private research and public policy worlds. He joins the university after serving as director of the Johns Hopkins’ Institute for Health and Social Policy since 2013. Prior to moving to the U.S., Forest served as president and chief executive officer of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation where he was engaged in policy research in areas such as urban policy, immigration, democratic reform and Canada’s energy future. He held prominent positions with Health Canada as chief scientist and GDW Cameron Chair where he was accountable for the quality and integrity of the ministry’s scientific and regulatory research. He also served as research director for the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.

“The University of Calgary is extremely pleased to welcome Pierre-Gerlier back to Canada to direct our School of Public Policy,” said President Cannon. “A distinguished and widely-respected scholar and a visionary leader, he will continue to build The School’s prominence in public policy, while bringing a particular expertise in the areas of health and social policy.”

“I am keenly aware of The School of Public Policy’s unique and well-deserved reputation for public policy innovation and entrepreneurship. That reputation is not the result of ideology or an exclusive political viewpoint. Rather, it is testimony to The School’s disciplined approach to combining technical expertise with practical judgement — to nurture what I call a policy mind. Developing policy minds has been my professional life calling and purpose,” Forest stated.

Forest spent the first part of his academic career with Université Laval in the Department of Political Science and holds an adjunct professorship with l’École nationale d’administration publique (Québec).

He completed his formal education with a BA and MA (political science) at Université Laval and a PhD (history and social studies of science) at Université de Montreal in 1990.

Forest is the author or co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed journals and books, notably Changing Health Care in Canada (2004) and Paradigm Freeze (2013). He has facilitated international workshops and participated in a variety of expert panels, committees and working groups. In 2008, Forest was named a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

The School of Public Policy provides a practical and focused global perspective of public policy analysis and practice in social and economic policy, energy and environmental policy and international policy. The School will continue to be a prominent academic think tank for public policy research and education, both in Canada and internationally.

Cannon noted, “I would like to thank the members of the Advisory Selection Committee, which I chaired, for their contributions to the extensive international search for this position.” The committee included Dru Marshall, provost and vice-president (academic); Richard Sigurdson, Deans’ Council representative; community members Tim Hearn and Tom Jenkins; General Faculties Council representatives Kathryn King-Shier, Ronald Kneebone, and Jennifer Koshan; Sandra Hoenle, University of Calgary Faculty Association representative; and Chris Carlile, Graduate Student Association representative.

Forest succeeds renowned economist Jack Mintz, who completed his term as director and Palmer Chair on June 30, 2015 and is now President’s Fellow at The School. Robert Mansell served as The School’s interim director while the search and selection process was underway. Mansell is academic director for The School and professor emeritus (economics) at the University of Calgary, and his dedication and leadership served The School well during the transition period.