John English | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament forKitchener | |
| In office January 17, 1994 – April 27, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | John Reimer |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Richard English (1945-01-26)January 26, 1945 (age 80) Plattsville, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Alma mater |
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John Richard English OC OOnt FRSC (born January 26, 1945) is aCanadian academic and former politician.
A native ofPlattsville, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 from theUniversity of Waterloo. He completed his A.M. (Master's) degree in 1968 andPhD in 1973 atHarvard University. He joined theUniversity of Waterloo as a lecturer in history in 1972, becoming an assistant professor in 1974, an associate professor in 1978, and a professor in 1984. He received a D.Litt. (hon) fromWilfrid Laurier University in 1990.
He served as aLiberalMember of Parliament forKitchener between 1993 and 1997.[1] Subsequently, he served as a special ambassador for landmines and as a special envoy for the election of Canada to theUnited Nations Security Council. He has also served as president of theCanadian Institute of International Affairs, co-editor of theCanadian Historical Review, chair of the board of theCanadian Museum of Civilization and theCanadian War Museum, and was the executive director of theCentre for International Governance Innovation, Canada's largest think tank devoted exclusively to the study of international affairs. He is currently chair of theCanadian International Council, the advisory board chair of the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice at theMunk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and chair of Members of thePierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. He served as distinguished visiting professor at theCanadian Forces College in 2010-11, is distinguished university professor emeritus at theUniversity of Waterloo, and is a Fellow ofTrinity College and ofMassey College at theUniversity of Toronto. He was the general editor of theDictionary of Canadian Biography and the founding director of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History at theUniversity of Toronto.
English has written many books and articles, and was the official biographer of former Canadian prime ministerLester Pearson; this work was published in two volumes. At the request of the Trudeau family, he wrote the biography ofPierre Trudeau. In October 2006, the first volume,Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919–1968 (ISBN 0-676-97521-6), was published. The second volume, entitledJust Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau Vol. 2 1968–2000, was published in October 2009. His most recent book is "Ice and Water: Politics, Peoples, and the Arctic Council," for which he won theJohn Lyman Book Award for maritime history.
He is an Officer of theOrder of Canada, a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada, Honorary Senior Fellow ofRenison University College, member of numerous editorial boards, and a recipient of many literary awards. He has won the John A. Macdonald Prize of the Canadian Historical Association, the Canadian Authors Association Non-Fiction Prize, the University of British Columbia Biography Prize, and twice-won the Dafoe Prize.Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One was shortlisted for theCharles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction in February 2007, and in January 2010,Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume Two received the same honour. Volume One was also chosen as a Best Book of the Decade byChapters. Both volumes were also short-listed for the Governor-General's Non-Fiction Prize. Volume Two won the 2009Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. He is the recipient of the Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
On June 30, 2016, English was promoted to anOfficer of the Order of Canada from member byGovernor GeneralDavid Johnston for "his contributions as a historian, author and administrator who has expanded our knowledge and understanding of Canada's rich political heritage."[2]
He was named to theOrder of Ontario in 2024.[3]
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forKitchener 1993-1997 | Succeeded by district renamed toKitchener Centre andWaterloo—Wellington |
