Article

Ivan Head

Published Online November 5, 2007

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Ivan Leigh Head, public servant (b at Calgary, Alta 28 July 1930). A law graduate of U of A, Head taught law there 1963-67 after stints in private practice and the Dept of External Affairs. In 1967 he served as a constitutional adviser to P.E.

Head, Ivan Leigh

Ivan Leigh Head, public servant (b at Calgary, Alta 28 July 1930). A law graduate of U of A, Head taught law there 1963-67 after stints in private practice and the Dept of External Affairs. In 1967 he served as a constitutional adviser to P.E. TRUDEAU, staying on as special assistant after Trudeau became PM the next year. Combative, strong-willed and idealistic, Head quickly became one of the PM's inner circle, and his key external affairs functionary.

Head was a strong force behind Trudeau's call for a "north-south dialogue" to aid developing countries. In 1978 he became president and governor of the INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE. He accepted numerous board and executive committee appointments including: Inter-American Dialogue (1985-), The International Ocean Institute, Malta (1992-), The Salzburg Seminar (1992-), The Canadian Institute of International Affairs (1993-) and The National Defence College (1993-). Head was made an officer in the Order of Canada (1990). He is the author of On a Hinge of History (1991), co-author of The Canadian Way (1995), and has been a professor of law and political science at the U of BC since 1991.