Paul Davidson

Paul Davidson brings over 30 years of executive leadership in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. He serves on four Boards of Directors in the health, culture, and civic engagement spheres and is the former President of Universities Canada, where he represented Canada’s 96 universities at home and abroad, and helped advance research, higher education and innovation for Canada. Davidson served as Executive Director of World University Service of Canada, a leading international development agency, delivering programs in 17 countries overseas and on 70 campuses across Canada. He also held senior positions in Canadian book publishing, including as Executive Director of the Association of Canadian Publishers.

Early in his career, Davidson served as a political advisor to Ontario’s Leader of the Opposition, Treasurer, and Deputy Premier. He currently Chairs the Board of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and serves on the Boards of the Ottawa Hospital and the Rideau Hall Foundation. Davidson was a member of the Global Centre for Pluralism from 2009-2023 and holds an MA from Queen’s University, where he studied southern African history, and a BA from Trent University, where he was in the first class of the Trent International Program.