Maurice Bitran

Dr. Maurice Bitran is a scientist, educator, public-policy expert, and former public-sector executive.  He was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientist of the Ontario Science Centre from 2014 to 2019, following wide-ranging careers in government and academia.

As an Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ontario Government, Maurice led the provincial portfolios on: Environmental Policy (including Climate Change and the Great Lakes); Economic Development Policy and Programs (including the Next Generation of Jobs Fund and the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy); the Premier’s Jobs and Prosperity Council: and was Ontario’s Chief Negotiator for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union.  Previously he was the Director of the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund (ORDCF), and of the Occupational Health and Safety Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Maurice has had academic appointments at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Toronto, the Astronomy Department of the University of Florida, the Astronomy Department of the University of Chile, and at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.  He currently teaches courses on policy implementation and the role of science in public policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

He currently serves on the Board of the Institute for Work and Health and is a former member of the Boards of: Ontario Genomics, Tourism Toronto, the Association of Science and Technology Centres, and the Canadian Association of Science Centres.

A native of Chile, Maurice was selected as one of the Ten most influential Hispanic-Canadians in 2012, received the Public Service Award from Life Sciences Ontario in 2013, and the Leadership Award from the Transformation Institute for Leadership Innovation in 2019.  He holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Florida (USA) and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.