The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs is delighted to welcome the following visiting professors for the 2024-25 academic year.
Gabrielle Bardall is a candidate for a Canada Research Chair in Women, Language and Power at Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia. She is founder and director of the Herizon Democracy consulting group and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa. She has worked on democracy support initiatives in over 60 countries worldwide for various UN agencies, bilateral foreign affairs and international non-profit organizations. She specializes in gender, security and democratization issues, in particular women's political rights in post-conflict and authoritarian states. A former Vice-President of the Parliamentary Centre, she most recently worked for Canada's Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security as Senior Policy Advisor to Global Affairs Canada. Prof. Bardall is a graduate of McGill University, Sciences-Po Paris and the Université de Montréal. She was awarded the Congressional Fellowship of the American Political Science Association and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Doctoral Fellowship for her work in the field of gender-based political violence. Originally from New Jersey, she currently lives in Halifax.
Martin Benjamin retired from the federal public service in 2022, after nearly 29 years of service. His last assignment from 2018 to 2022 was as Director General/Chief Intelligence Officer, Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Reflecting a troubled international order and the growing importance of intelligence for conflict management, Martin re-established the department's ability to generate its own intelligence assessments and oversaw the rapid growth of this function by developing new tools for briefing senior leaders, including Ministers, on managing these crises. Martin joined the Public Service of Canada in 1994, as a Policy Officer with the Department of National Defence (DND). Over the course of his career, he contributed to a diverse range of international policy files, holding positions at DND and the former Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) - as Director, Policy Development, and Chief of Staff to the President. Following this assignment, Martin was seconded to the position of Director of Operations in the Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat of the Privy Council Office from 2012-14, before returning to Global Affairs Canada in 2014. He served as Director General responsible for bilateral and trilateral relations with the United States and Mexico, and was called upon to serve as Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Americas, in 2018. In this position, Martin's portfolio expanded beyond North America to include Canada's bilateral relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries. Martin holds a BA in History and Political Science (1992) from McGill University and an MA in International Relations (1994) from Université Laval.
Shelly Bruce was appointed as Chief (Deputy Minister) of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in June 2018 and retired in September 2022, after 33 years with Canada’s national cryptologic agency. Shelly joined CSE in 1989 as a signals intelligence (SIGINT) analyst and Russian linguist, and spent time in various SIGINT operational, policy and planning roles, as well as in CSE’s IT security branch (now the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security). In 2007, she was seconded to the Security and Intelligence Secretariat at the Privy Council Office as Director Operations. For the nine years that preceded her appointment as Chief CSE, Shelly led Canada’s national SIGINT program. Shelly has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian studies from Dalhousie University and a Masters in Slavic languages and literature from the University of Toronto. These days, Shelly is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa.
Prior to retirement in September 2022, John was the General Counsel for Field Effect Software Inc., a cybersecurity firm in Ottawa. Before taking on this role, John spent 20 years with the Department of Justice, serving as legal counsel and providing strategic policy advice for the Government of Canada’s conduct of cyber defence and active cyber operations. He began his legal career in Ottawa as a trial lawyer specialising in insurance claims. John is currently an adjunct professor at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Relations and a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa, teaching graduate studies since 2017 in cyber security and cyber operations law and policy. He is also an Associate Fellow in the Cyber Security Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies where his areas of research include domestic and international cybersecurity law and policy issues and the application of international law to state behaviour in cyberspace. John has an LL.B. and LL.M. in law and technology, both from the University of Ottawa.
Youri Cormier is currently the Executive Director of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDA Institute). He has taught at the Royal Military College of Canada, the Canadian Forces College, Johns Hopkins University, and King’s College London in a variety of disciplines including political philosophy, war & strategy, international relations, land power theorists, operational concepts, and human rights & justice. He holds diplomas from Concordia University (BComm/BA), the Royal Military College of Canada (MA) and King’s College London (PhD) and held senior executive roles in the non-profit sector in professional theatre, environmentalism, and youth civic & electoral engagement. He served as a human rights observer in Zapatista-controlled areas of Chiapas, Mexico, and later conducted research on Latin American indigenous insurgencies on behalf of the Canadian Department of National Defense. As a research & speechwriting fellow at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels, he contributed to policy papers on climate change and food/water security, NATO-Russia relations, and the use of drones in countering improvised explosive devices. In 2016, he published the book: “War as Paradox: Clausewitz and Hegel on Fighting Doctrines and Ethics (McGill Queens University Press), which traces the origin and current-day significance of dialectical war theory. It was awarded a prestigious publication grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, was nominated for the 2019 Canadian Philosophical Association Biennial Book Prize.
Ferry de Kerckhove entered the Canadian Foreign Service in 1973. He served as Canada's High Commissioner to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia and finally, Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt. Ferry was also the personal representative of the Prime Minister for la Francophonie. He has a B.Soc. Sc. Honours in Economics, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Ottawa and pursued Ph.D. Studies at Laval University in Québec City. He has a B.Soc. Sc. Honours in Economics, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Ottawa and pursued Ph.D. Studies at Laval University in Québec City.
Victor Gervais
Victor Gervais is a senior Middle East analyst at Global Affairs Canada (GAC). He has over 15 years of professional experience working with leading organizations in Europe and the Middle East in the fields of diplomacy, defence and national security. Prior to joining GAC, Victor Gervais served as Senior Researcher and Program Director in an Abu Dhabi-based research centre. From 2015 to 2020, he worked as Senior Research Fellow at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, where he led the MENA Peace & Security Program and advised the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on a broad range of foreign policy and regional security issues. He also worked as Assistant Professor at the Institute of International and Civil Security at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi and as Adviser to the Senior VP Middle East & North Africa at the Airbus Group in Paris. Victor Gervais holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris, and he is fluent in Arabic, French and English.
I retired from the Canadian Public Service in 2024. My last assignment was as Director of the National Fisheries Intelligence Service at Fisheries and Oceans Canada from 2018 to 2024, where I was instrumental in designing and putting into operation a brand-new intelligence team whose task was to guide the department's enforcement teams to the greatest threats to Canada's marine resources. I also chaired Interpol's Fisheries Crime Working Group. I have over twenty-five years of experience in the Canadian intelligence community in a wide variety of positions. I joined the Public Service of Canada in 1994 as an Intelligence Officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, where I worked on counterespionage and anti-terrorism investigations. Subsequently, I was Senior Strategic Intelligence Analyst on International Terrorism, then Manager of the first team dedicated to hybrid threat analysis at Canadian Forces Intelligence Command. I was successively Director of National Security Operations at Public Safety Canada, and Director of Strategic Analysis at the Policy Planning Directorate of the Department of National Defence. I have presented, for example, on hybrid threats, the use of intelligence in the field of environmental protection, and strategic intelligence analysis at NATO, Interpol, and several other national and international forums. Finally, I have published articles in specialized magazines and journals on military and national security issues.
I'm a scholar-practitioner with a background working with governments in Canada and internationally. I'm committed to building a data-driven, evidence-based public service and I view my academic teaching as an extension of this effort. I am currently a/Director General in the Client Experience Office within the Canadian Digital Service of Service Canada leading a team using quantitative surveys, usability testing, and journey mapping to inform the development of products and services tailored to client needs. I've also held various positions within the Public Service, including at IRCC, Natural Resources Canada, Global Affairs Canada, and the Privy Council Office. Outside of government, I worked as a behavioral scientist with the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) in the United States, providing senior advisory assistance to governments in redesigning service delivery through the application of behavioral science principles. In term of academic background, I have a PhD in political science from Yale, an MPhil in Middle Eastern Studies from Oxford and a BA from McGill.
Mathieu Landriault - Part-Time Professor
Mathieu Landriault is the director of the Observatoire de la politique et la sécurité de l’Arctique (OPSA) and an adjunct professor at École nationale d’administration publique. He is lecturing at the School of Political Studies and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and the School of Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University. He is researching media and public opinion on Arctic security and sovereignty matters in addition to conducting research on the evolution of Arctic governance in recent years, especially in relations with subnational governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.
Dr Adam McCauley currently serves as a senior advisor in Canada’s Department of National Defence. He joined the government from the University of Oxford, where he was a lecturer in politics. He is an expert on political violence and civil wars and has taught across the themes of security, conflict, and technology, with a specific interest in “tragedy of the commons” problems. His current research tackles the social, cultural, and political impacts of emerging technologies -- with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. Prior to Oxford, Adam worked as a journalist and has reported for The New York Times, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic. He is currently writing a book on Artificial Intelligence, military and political decision-making, and the future of conflict (for McGill-Queens University Press), and another on the ethics of AI use in the military. Adam holds a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies (Toronto), MSc in Journalism (Columbia), and a MPhil and DPhil in International Relations (Oxford.
Daniel Nadolny is a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) at the University of Ottawa. His current day job is leading the "Behavioural Insights and Experimentation Team" within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Previously, he was an assistant (and briefly associate) professor at the Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland, before moving to Ottawa to work in Employment and Social Development Canada's Innovation Lab. Throughout his careers, Daniel works to discover and share findings and approaches to address social problems. He does this through his dedication to teaching, as well as his research in government and academia. Daniel will be aiming to maintain an open-door policy throughout the Winter 2024 term during his teaching on campus. Off campus, he will be spending his time working at IRCC, and with his family.
Alex Neve served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch from 2000 - 2020. In that role he has led and been part of numerous human rights research and advocacy delegations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, Guantánamo Bay and, closer to home, First Nations communities across the country. Alex is a lawyer, with an LLB from Dalhousie University and a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. He is presently an adjunct professor of international human rights law with the Faculties of Law at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University. He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, taught at Osgoode Hall Law School, been affiliated with York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, and worked as a refugee lawyer in private practice and in a community legal aid clinic. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Centre for Law and Democracy. Alex has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. He is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has received honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from St. Thomas University, the University of Waterloo and the University of New Brunswick.
Falk Petegou is a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Public and International Affairs and holds a Ph.D. in International Studies. He has spent research periods at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, and was a visiting scholar at the Frankfurt Peace Research Institute (PRIF). He has also held a visiting research position at the Chaire de recherche en francophonie internationale sur les aspirations et mouvements politiques en Afrique francophone, within the Collège des chaires de recherches sur le monde francophone of the University of Ottawa. He is the author of the “Calcul de l'horreur” and the “Indice de l'horreur”, which assess the potential for conflict escalation between local actors in situations of direct violence. His research focuses on: Peacebuilding, conflict resolution technologies, conflict theory, peace theories and models, sub-state armed groups, political protest movements in French-speaking Africa, violent dynamics of political change, mechanisms for constructing conflicting identities. He has also worked as a professional-coordinator in the humanitarian field for a project funded by the European Union, provided consultancy services to international institutions such as UNICEF and Service Civil pour la Paix, and participated in university training in several countries, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sao Tomé and Principe.
After graduating from Bogaziçi University Department of Economics in 1991 Aylin Seçkin received her Master's degree in European Economics from Université Libre de Bruxelles with a Jean Monnet scholarship between 1991-92, and her PhD in Economics from Carleton University (Canada) in 1999. After working at Cirano Research Center, Montreal University, and Mount Allison University in Canada she returned to Turkey in the summer of 2001 and joined the Faculty of Economics at Bilgi University. She has received her Professorship degree in 2015, has published many publications on the economics of art and culture and art investments in Empirical Economics, Journal of Cultural Economics, Economics Bulletin\ Economic Modelling. Her studies on population aging have been published in various academic journals such as Economic Modeling. In July 2021, she published her first book The Economy of Arts from Hayalperest Publishing House. Prof. Seçkin took her sabbatical leave from University of California, Berkeley and University and University of Ottawa during the 2016-2017 academic year. Seçkin recently graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University Digital Marketing Master in 2021. She decided to leave Bilgi University in September 2022, where she taught courses such as Trade Theory, Money Theory, Sports Economics, Arts and Culture Economics and Internet (Startup) Economics for 21 years to continue her academic studies in University of Ottawa, Canada and Business School of Lausanne. She has a broadcast series called The Economy of Everything on FluTV (a Youtube Channel). She is currently a Faculty Member at the Business School of Lausanne and the International Representative of Yildiz Teknopark of Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Jan Völkel held teaching and research positions at the Universities of Freiburg and Salzburg, the European University Institute in Florence, Cairo University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Besides, he was visiting researcher at Université de Montréal, Dundee University, Bahçesehir Üniversity (Istanbul) and Southern Denmark University (Odense). He participated in various international research activities and won the prestigious Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship from the European Union for a research project on "Parliaments in the Arab Transformation Processes". He got various stipends and scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and has been member of some DAAD selection committees. Since 2008, he has been working as MENA Regional Coordinator at Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI, www.bti-project.org).