Born and raised in Winnipeg’s South End, Allan Gotlieb has made exceptional contributions to Manitoba and Canada through his public service and legal careers, particularly in the areas of international law, relations and diplomacy. A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford he later graduated from the Harvard Law School. In 1957, he began his public service career with the federal government and served under successive administrations through to the end of the 1980s. This included the posts of deputy minister of Manpower and Immigration (1973-1976) and undersecretary of state for External Affairs (1977-1981). As undersecretary he re-invented Canada’s foreign ministry as a central agency of government. He also served this nation as Canada’s esteemed ambassador to the United States from 1981 to 1989. While ambassador, he encouraged Canadian provinces to join with the federal government in playing an active advocacy role in Canada-US and other international relations. Dr. Gotlieb is a former chairman of the Canada Council. He is the chair of the Board of Governors of the Donner Canadian Foundation and chairman emeritus of the Canadian Group of the Trilateral Commission. A senior advisor in the law office of Bennett Jones, Allan Gotlieb has written five books on international law, diplomacy and political science. He is a Companion in the Order of Canada.
