Munir Ahmed Sheikh Appointed Distinguished Visiting Scholar

John ApSimon, Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs, is pleased to announce the appointment of Munir Ahmed Sheikh as Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the School of Public Policy and Administration and the School of Journalism and Communication, effective January 1, 2011.

Mr. Sheikh brings to this position a distinguished career in the federal public service, having held a wide range of successively senior positions in several government departments since 1972.  In June 2008, he was appointed Canada’s chief statistician by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  In this capacity, he oversaw the development of the agency’s first Corporate Business Plan, securing Statistics Canada’s place as a key player in the international community of statistical organizations.

Previous to his appointment at Statistics Canada, Mr. Sheikh was Deputy Minister of Labour, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, where he was responsible for labour policy and operations, including labour-management relations, labour standards, pay equity, employment equity, and international labour agreements.  He has also served as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Expenditure Review, in the Privy Council Office; Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Finance; Associate Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health; and, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Ministry of Finance.

In his role as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Carleton, Mr. Sheikh will provide invaluable advice and assistance to students and faculty doing work in public policy and administration and journalism and communication.

“We look forward to the insights Mr. Sheikh can offer both our journalism and communication studies students on the challenges involved in communicating public policy and his perspective of the relationship that can, does, and should exist between the media and the public service,”  said Chris Waddell, Director of Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication.

“Dr. Sheikh has had a distinguished career in the public service and has made numerous important academic contributions to the economic policy literature,” said Allan Maslove, Acting Director of the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton.  “Faculty and students in the School of Public Policy and Administration will benefit from his insights and the opportunity to work with him on a range of public policy issues,” he added.  “We are delighted to welcome him as a colleague.”

Mr. Sheikh holds a masters degree from McMaster University and a doctoral degree from the University of Western Ontario, both in economics.  A respected scholar, he has taught courses at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa on public finance, international trade, economic development, and macroeconomics, and has published widely in academic journals on subjects relating to international trade, macroeconomics, taxation, and fiscal policy.