Researching James Downey

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Downey graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa, and did graduate work in English Literature at the University of Iowa. While there he discovered the Iowa Center for the Book, where he learned bookbinding, papermaking and book conservation, launching his career as a book and paper conservator. While at Iowa he also took classes with the Iowa Writers' Workshop, which furthered his desire to write.

Born in Winterton, Newfoundland, Downey was a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and of the University of London where, as a Rothermere Fellow, he earned a PhD in English literature in 1966.

At Carleton University, where he began his career, he held a series of academic and administrative posts, including chairman of the English department, dean of the faculty of arts, vice-president (academic) and interim president for the first five months of 1979.

From 1980 to 1990 he was President of the University of New Brunswick. During that period he also served terms as president of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, chairman of the Association of Atlantic Universities and chairman of the Corporate-Higher Education Forum.

From 1990 to 1993 he was special advisor to the Premier of New Brunswick and co-chairman of the New Brunswick Commission on Excellence in Education, which published two reports that guided educational reform in that province.

Downey was president of the University of Waterloo from 1993 to 1999, during which time he also served terms as chairman of the Council of Ontario Universities and Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

His publications include The Eighteenth Century Pulpit (Oxford University Press, 1969), Fearful Joy (McGill-Queens University Press, 1973), Schools For A New Century and To Live and Learn (reports of the New Brunswick Commission on Excellence in Education, 1992, 1993), Innovation: Essays by Leading Canadian Researchers, edited with Lois Claxton (Key Porter Books, 2002), and Lord Beaverbrook and the Kennedys (University of New Brunswick, 2012). Among his awards are honorary degrees from six Canadian and two American universities. In 2000 he was the recipient from the Association of Commonwealth Universities of the Symons Medal for outstanding service to higher education in the Commonwealth, and in 2003 he received the David C. Smith Award from the Council of Ontario Universities for his contributions to universities and public policy in Canada.

In 2005, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Royal Military College of Canada.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996.