David Zussman

David Zussman

Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa; Commissioner, Public Service Commission of Canada (Ottawa, ON)

May 25, 2009

Dr. David Zussman has enjoyed a diverse career in the public service, private sector and academia. He is an academic authority on public service management and is a part-time Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of Canada. During the course of his public sector career he has been Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Program Review and Machinery of Government in the Privy Council.

At the University of Ottawa, Dr. Zussman has been Assistant and Associate Dean of Graduate Programs as well as the Dean of the School of Management from 1988 to 1992. More recently, he was President of the Public Policy Forum from 1996 to 2003 and served as Executive Vice President and COO of EKOS Research Associates Inc, a public opinion and public policy research firm located in Ottawa. In 2003, he received the Public Service Citation Award by the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) in recognition of his contribution to making the public sector better understood in Canada.

Dr. Zussman is also known for his writing; he has written several books, including The Vertical Solitude: Managing in the Public Service. He is also responsible for a regular column in the Ottawa Citizen on current developments in public policy and he has a back page column in Canadian Government Executive. He completed a PhD from McGill University, a M.Sc. from Florida State University and a B.Sc. from McGill University.

Dr. Zussman is the President of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration and serves on the board of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.


Role: Panel Chair
Report: Better Research for Better Business (May 2009)