2009 Gordon Osbaldeston Lecture

When: Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 17:00 – 22:00

Where: National Arts Centre, Ottawa

Dr. Martha Piper, former president of UBC
“Adapting Public Policy to a Changing World:  A Contact Sport”

Listen to Dr. Piper's remarks.

As this year’s Gordon Osbaldeston lecturer, Dr. Piper provided her insights on how the public service can adapt to our changing world. At the heart of her lecture was a single question: Will our public policies and institutions, many created in the previous century, allow us to address complex 21st century challenges? If not, how must the role of the public service change and how must public servants engage – or make contact with – stakeholders, communities and the public?

With a background in epidemiology and biostatistics, as well as a decade of experience as UBC’s president, Dr. Martha Piper offered a unique perspective on public policy and public service in the 21st century. Born in Ohio and a longtime Canadian citizen, she received the Order of Canada in 2002. Her commitment to public life remains strong. 

In 2007, Dr. Piper assumed Board memberships with CARE Canada, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education. In 2008,Dr. Piper joined the Canadian Institutes of Advanced Research and assumed the Chair of the Board of the National Institute of Nanotechnology. Dr.Piper currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Montreal, TransAlta Corporation, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Grosvenor Americas Ltd and is a member of the Trilateral Commission, an organization of leading thinkers and former leaders from North America, Europe and Japan.

For more information please contact Dianne Gravel-Normand by email, or by telephone at 613.238.7858 x 233.