David S. Wright (born 1944) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He served most recently as Canada's permanent representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from 1997 to 2003.

Education and family

He was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He graduated from

Lower Canada College Lower Canada College (LCC) is an English-language elementary and secondary level independent school located in Montreal, Quebec. The school offers education from Kindergarten through Grade 11. Students graduate from Grade 11 and then have the optio ...

in 1962. He studied economics and mathematics at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and graduated in 1966. He received an MBA in international finance from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1968. He is married to Ilze Skuja. They have one son, Julian, who served as a law clerk to Justice

Rosalie Abella Rosalie Silberman Abella (born July 1, 1946) is a Canadian jurist. In 2004, Abella was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman and refugee to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench. She retired from the federa ...

at the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

, as a lawyer at

Sullivan and Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Known as a white-shoe firm, Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as a leader in business law, and is known for its impact on international affairs, such a ...

's New York office and now as a lawyer at the

Global Fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, t ...

in Geneva. His brothers, James R. Wright and Robert G. Wright, are also a retired diplomats, serving most recently as Canada's

high commissioner to the United Kingdom The following is the list of ambassadors and high commissioners to the United Kingdom, or more formally, to the Court of St James's. High commissioners represent member states of the Commonwealth of Nations and ambassadors represent other states ...

from 2006 to 2011 and ambassador to China from 2005 to 2009, respectively.

Diplomatic career

He joined the

Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1968 and went on his first overseas posting to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1969. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he alternated between overseas postings and positions in Ottawa. He served as director of the department's Policy Planning Bureau from 1982 to 1985, during which he helped draft the department's May 1985

green paper In the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth countries, Hong Kong, the United States and the European Union, a green paper is a tentative government report and consultation document of policy proposals for debate and discussion. A green paper represen ...

, ''Competitiveness and Security: Directions for Canada's International Relations''. He served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Europe in the recently renamed

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department o ...

from 1990 to 1994, helping shape Canada's response to the downfall of the Soviet Union, the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and the outbreak of the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

. He became Canada's ambassador to Spain in 1994, serving during the Canadian-Spanish fishing dispute known as the Turbot War in 1995. He was named Canada's ambassador and permanent representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1997, serving during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

and the aftermath of the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, including the War in Afghanistan and the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. He was Dean of the North Atlantic Council from 2000 to 2003. He retired in 2003 after 35 years in the Canadian foreign service.

Post-diplomatic career

He is currently the Kenneth and Patricia Taylor Distinguished Visiting Professor in Foreign Affairs, Victoria College,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. He currently teaches a course on world affairs in Vic One, a seminar program for first year students; and a fourth year seminar course on contemporary issues in foreign policy. He is also a special advisor to Dale & Lessmann LLP, a Canadian law firm, where he keeps clients abreast of developments in trade negotiations, particularly on the proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

External links

NATO CV

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, David 1944 births Ambassadors of Canada to Andorra Ambassadors of Canada to Monaco Ambassadors of Canada to Spain Anglophone Quebec people Living people People from Montreal Permanent Representatives of Canada to NATO