Ian Shugart, Canada’s top public servant, appointed as Munk School professor
After a long and distinguished career in the federal public service, Ian Shugart is getting a new title: professor. Beginning this fall, Shugart will teach in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy’s Master of Global Affairs & Master of Public Policy programs.
“We are immensely fortunate to have Ian Shugart join the School,” said Munk School director Peter Loewen. “He is a model of expertise, commitment, and ethics. Our students will benefit enormously from his wisdom and mentorship.”
Shugart’s time as a professor follows 30 years in the public service, most recently as Canada’s top civil servant, the 24th clerk of the Privy Council of Canada and secretary to the cabinet. He was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019 as the successor to Michael Wernick.
Prior to that, Shugart was Chrystia Freeland’s deputy minister of foreign affairs at Global Affairs Canada, where he developed a reputation for his deep knowledge and devotion to Canada’s interests.
Shugart’s career has included deputy minister positions at Environment Canada and Employment and Social Development. At Health Canada, where he served as visiting assistant deputy minister and senior assistant deputy minister from 1997-2006, Shugart was chair of the Global Health Security Action Group and the Health Task force of APEC as well as a director on the World Health Organization’s executive board.
Shugart is an alum of the University of Toronto’s Trinity College, where he earned a degree in political economy. Following graduation, he worked as a constitutional policy advisor to then leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, who is currently a Distinguished Fellow of the Munk School. Later, under the Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney, Shugart took on the role of policy director for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition before shifting to the public service in 1991.
Shugart will officially take on his role as professor, teaching stream, in September 2022, in a part-time capacity.
