Andrew P. W. Bennett 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 ...

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or ...

. He was the first and only Canadian Ambassador for Religious Freedom, as the head of the Office of Religious Freedom, from the office's formation in 2013 to its closure in 2016.

Early life

He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in History from Dalhousie University in 1995, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in History from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in 1997, and a PhD in Politics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 2002. He is a member of the clergy in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and serves as a

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian-Catholic Shrine in Ottawa. He is the past Vice-President and Chairman of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute Foundation.

Career

Before being appointed to lead Canada's Office of Religious Freedom on February 19, 2013, Andrew Bennett worked for the Privy Council Office, Export Development Canada and Natural Resources Canada in a variety of analytical, research, and corporate roles. He has also held roles as

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

and

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Augustine College Augustine College (AC) is a private ecumenical Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa, Ontario. Augustine currently offers two semester-long programs focused on the histories of science and the humanities in late and classical antiquity and in ...

in Ottawa, as a Scholar Expert on the Americas Desk with

Oxford Analytica Oxford Analytica is an international consulting firm providing strategic analysis of world events. It was founded in 1975 by David Young, an American employee of the National Security Council during the Nixon administration. Clients of Oxford ...

and as a Researcher with the

's Institute on Governance where he focused on the process of devolution in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He currently is a Senior Fellow at Cardus, a Canadian faith-based think-tank as well as the Chair of the Cabinet of Canadians, an element of Faith in Canada 150 -a signature initiative of Cardus that seeks to emphasise the importance of religious faith in the lives of Canadians today and indeed throughout Canadian history as Canada marks its 150th birthday in 2017.faithincanada150.ca,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Andrew 1972 births Living people 21st-century Canadian civil servants Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Canadian civil servants Dalhousie University alumni McGill University alumni Canadian members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church People from Toronto