McBean, Gordon
President, ICSU
Gordon McBean is President of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and Co-Chair of the Governing Council for Future Earth: Research for Global Sustainability and Professor Emeritus of Geography at Western University, London, Canada. He was Professor of Geography at Western (2000-2015) with joint appointments in Political Science and Physics. From 1994 to 2000, he was Assistant Deputy Minister, Environment Canada with responsibilities for climate, weather and air quality sciences and services and advising the government on related issues. Previously, he was Professor, Atmospheric-Oceanic Sciences at University of British Columbia and a research scientist, Environment Canada. He received his PhD in Physics and Oceanography from the University of British Columbia. He has been very active in international scientific programs: Chair (1988-94), World Climate Research Programme; Chair, Planning/Science Committee, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Program (2005-2011); and President (2009-15) of START International (environmental capacity enhancement in Africa and Asia). His recent research projects include: Coastal Cities at Risk: Building Adaptive Capacity for Managing Climate Change in Coastal Megacities (Vancouver, Bangkok, Manila and Lagos); and Marine Environmental Observations Prediction and Response. He was previously leader in ArcticNet NCE. He is a Member of the Order of Canada (2008) for “the advancement of climate and atmospheric sciences in Canada and for leadership in national and international scientific organizations”, Order of Ontario (2010) and awarded, in 2015: University of British Columbia Alumni Award of Distinction, American Geophysical Union Ambassador Award and Cleveland Abbe Prize, American Meteorological Society. He is a Fellow of the: Royal Society of Canada; American Geophysical Union; Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society; International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics; and American Meteorological Society.