May 25, 2009
Professor Peter Aucoin is Eric Dennis Memorial Professor of Government and Political Science and Professor of Public Administration at Dalhousie University and a Senior Fellow of the Canada School of Public Service for Government of Canada.
His career includes positions as Science Advisor, the Science Council of Canada; Research Coordinator, federal Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada; Research Director, Halifax Commission on City Government; and Research Director, federal Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing.
Professor Aucoin received his university education at Saint Mary’s (BA), Dalhousie (MA) and Queen’s (PhD) A faculty member at Dalhousie University since 1970, he served as Director of the School of Public Administration from 1985 to 1990 and Chair of the Department of Political Science from 1992 to 1995.
Professor Aucoin has served in an advisory capacity to all three levels of government in Canada. He has also been also an expert witness in several constitutional cases dealing with election and referendum law. In 2000, he served as a member of the Peer Review Team for the review of the British Cabinet Office’s modernization program. More recently, he was a member of the Clerk of the Privy Council’s External Advisory Group on the modernization of human resource management. He is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
He was awarded the 1999 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Excellence in Public Administration by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (Nova Scotia Region). He was the 2005 recipient of the Vanier Medal for exceptional achievement in public administration, awarded by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. He is the 2006 recipient of the Dalhousie University Alumni Association Award of Teaching Excellence.
Professor Aucoin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC). He is a member of the Order of Canada.