Bernard J. Shapiro
Bernard J. Shapiro became the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University on 1 July 1994 and Principal and Vice-chancellor and Professor Emeritus in January, 2003
Dr. Shapiro was born and raised in Montreal and earned his undergraduate degree at McGill University, where he was awarded the Alan Oliver Gold Medal. Shortly after graduation, he and his brother took over and managed the family restaurant business for several years.
In 1961, he left Montreal to pursue an academic career at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., where he received his Doctorate in Education. After graduating from Harvard in 1967, he joined the faculty of Boston University where he later became Associate Dean of the university's School of Education.
Dr. Shapiro returned to Canada in 1976 to become Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario in London. Two years later, he was appointed Vice President (Academic) and Provost of that university.
In 1980, he moved to Toronto to assume the position of Director of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), a post he held until 1986, when he was appointed Deputy Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario and since that time he has also served as Deputy Minister of Skills Development, Deputy Secretary of Cabinet, Deputy Minister and Secretary of Management Board and Deputy Minister of Colleges and Universities. In 1992, following his retirement from the Ontario Public Service, Dr. Shapiro joined the University of Toronto as a Professor of Education and Public Policy. In September 1999 Dr. Shapiro was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada.
He is past president of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education and of the Social Science Federation of Canada. He has also served on the executive committee of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and as Chairman of the governing board of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation in Paris. Currently, he is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Royal Military College, Co-chair of the Societe du Havre in Montreal , member of the Board of the Institute for Public Policy Research and Vice-President of CJA Federation in Montreal.
He and his wife, Phyllis, a Professor of Education, live in Montreal.
