David Zussman

David Zussman, one of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s “closest advisors” according to The National Post, is a prominent figure on the Canadian political scene. He is President of the Public Policy Forum, an organization committed to bridging the gap between government, business, labour and the voluntary sector, and Professor of Public Policy and Management at the University of Ottawa, where he is a recognized authority on public service management and public policy. He also teaches in the University’s Executive MBA Program.

Zussman graduated with his B.Sc. in Mathematics from McGill University in 1968, and obtained his M.Sc. in Educational Psychology from Florida State University in 1970. He completed his Ph.D. in Social Psychology, at McGill, in 1975.

Zussman has had a varied career in government, the private sector and academia, including a position as President of Ebvironics – DRZ, a public policy consulting firm in Ottawa, and the position of Dean of the Faculty of Administration at the University of Ottawa from 1988-1992. In 1993, he was asked by the newly elected Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, to lead the transition for the federal Liberal government, a role he undertook again in 1997.