Donald Savoie Recognized With Lifetime Achievement Award
MONCTON — One of New Brunswick’s most important thinkers is being recognized for his decades of contributions to the study of politics and the economy in Atlantic Canada.
This month, the American Political Science Association will award Donald J. Savoie the Mildred A. Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given to scholars who have made “significant contributions through their career” to the study of Canadian politics.
Savoie is a New Brunswick-born public administration and regional economic development scholar. He also serves as a professor at l’Université de Moncton.
Savoie is considered by many to be one of the most important thought leaders in the realms of politics and economic development in Atlantic Canada.
Over the course of his career, he has written as many as 60 books, spanning everything from deep looks at economic development in New Brunswick to biographies of business titans like Harrison McCain and Arthur Irving.
In 2015, he was awarded the Killam Prize for his contribution to the field of social sciences. He was also named a companion of the Order of Canada in May of this year.
Savoie was recognized for playing “a key role” in setting up important economic development organizations like the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Canadian Centre for Management Development, and the Canadian Institute for Research on Regional Development.
In column Huddle published in July, economist David Campbell said Savoie is unparalleled in his thought leadership on business and economics in Atlantic Canada.
“In my lifetime, I have never seen anyone so prolific at writing thoughtful, ground-breaking insight on big issues,” Campbell wrote.
Campbell also praised Savoie for his dedication to and focus on his home region, despite credentials that could have taken him much further.
“He could have accepted professorships or chairs at his pick of universities, but he stuck with the Université de Moncton. He could have moved to just about any high-profile position he would have liked (he was awarded a Doctor of Letters from Oxford University) but he chose his home province and always had time to think and write about it,” Campbell wrote.
In a news release announcing the winner of this year’s Mildred A. Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award, Savoie gave a “sincere thank you” to the American Political Science Association for choosing him.
“It means a great deal to me. The best honour anyone can receive is one that is given by their peers. Peers know full well the requirements of the work of fellow academics,” Savoie said.
Savoie will receive the award on September 15, in Montreal.