Gordon Davies Giffin (born December 29, 1949) became the 34th

United States Ambassador to Canada This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Canada.U.S. ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, Gordon Giffin moved to Canada before his first birthday. He lived 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 ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

for 17 years, attending Valois Park Elementary School in Pointe Claire and Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke. Giffin earned a B.A. from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in 1971, and a J.D. from

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Am ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1974. The Ambassador was nominated for his position by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

on July 1, 1997, and confirmed by the full

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on July 31. Prior to his appointment, Giffin practiced law as a senior partner in the firm of Long, Aldridge & Norman (now

McKenna Long & Aldridge McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (MLA) was a United States-based international law and public policy firm with more than 575 attorneys and public policy advisors in 15 offices and 13 markets. The firm provided legal, business, and pub ...

LLP). He has since returned to McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, which has merged into Dentons LLP, and heads the firm's US Public Policy and Regulation practice. While on an ambassador's trip to Montreal he took in a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, where a Molson Ice was dumped on his head for his outward support of Bill Clinton. From 1975 to 1979, he was Legislative Director and Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator

Sam Nunn Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr. (born September 8, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972–1997) as a member of the Democratic Party. After leaving Congress, Nunn co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiat ...

in Washington, D.C. He expressed confidence

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

would become President of the United States of America in a November 8, 2016, interview with Canada's Business New Network (BNN), stating "I was there during the first Clinton Presidency and now we're about to have the second." Giffin sits on the boards of several Canadian companies including Canadian National Railway, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Transalta.

References

External links

*
McKenna Long biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giffin, Gordon 1950 births Living people Directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Ambassadors of the United States to Canada Duke University alumni Emory University alumni Emory University School of Law alumni Political staffers