Ottawa, Ontario - 26 June 2014
Elizabeth Dowdeswell is an executive whose career has spanned provincial, federal and international borders and transcended traditional disciplinary lines. She is currently the President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies and a management consultant. Ms. Dowdeswell serves as the chair of the board of directors of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario and contributes in an advisory capacity to a number of Canadian and international not-for-profit organizations. She has a Master of Science degree in behavioral sciences from UtahStateUniversity, a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics and a teaching certificate from the University of Saskatchewan, and several honorary degrees.
Ms. Dowdeswell’s focus has been on engaging the general population on public policy-making and seeking innovation in the successful management of organizations through change. She was the founding President and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. She was the Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, and Executive Director of UN-Habitat.
As Assistant Deputy Minister at Environment Canada, she was responsible for the Atmospheric Environment Service, including negotiating the Framework Convention on Climate Change. She led a number of public inquiries, including on Canada’s unemployment benefits program and federal water policy. Earlier in her career she was the Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth with the Government of Saskatchewan, also serving as an educational consultant, university lecturer and high school teacher.
She has been honoured on many occasions for her public service both in Canada and globally. In 2012, she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2008, she was named a Fellow of the Argentine Academy of Environmental Sciences.
Ms. Dowdeswell currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.
