David Zussman

President Emeritus

David Zussman is an adjunct professor at the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria and senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) at the University of Ottawa.

David is a renowned authority on leadership, whose work has focused on improving the management of government, academic and other organizations.

David previously held several senior roles at the University of Ottawa. Between 2005 and 2016, he variously held the roles of Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management, dean of the Telfer School of Management and director of the GSPIA. Before that, he was executive vice-president of EKOS Research Associates. He was president of PPF from 1996 to 2002.

David’s record of public service includes leading the transition team for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien after the 1993 federal election. He also acted as assistant secretary for the federal Program Review and Machinery of Government departments and served as commissioner of the Public Service Commission.

David chairs Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Departmental Audit Committee. He is a past board chair of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. He has also served on the boards of Ashbury College, the Canadian Ditchley Foundation, Imagine Canada, the Institute for Research on Public Policy and the Stratford Festival, as well as PPF.

David was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada in 2021, in recognition of his long and distinguished career in the academic, government and not-for-profit sectors.

David has a doctorate in psychology from McGill University.

Connect with David on LinkedIn.