Former Diplomat, Ambassador to Give 2014 Winegard Lecture
January 16, 2014 - News Release
A seasoned Canadian diplomat and longtime ambassador in the Middle East will be this year’s speaker for the Winegard Visiting Lectureship on International Development at the University of Guelph.
Michael Bell will speak on “The Situation in the Middle East Today” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 27 in Rozanski Hall, Room 104. He is the Paul Martin (Sr.) Senior Scholar on International Diplomacy at the University of Windsor.
At Windsor, Bell co-chairs the Jerusalem Old City Initiative, which will publish a number of papers this year. The project is designed to provide options for future governance of the “old city” for use in potential peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
He chaired the donor committee of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq and served as an arms inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in that country. He has considerable experience in conflict management, mediation, peace-building and -keeping, policy analysis and formulation, governance, human rights, civil society, and economic and social development.
Bell spent 36 years overseas, including 16 years as Canada’s ambassador to Jordan, Egypt and Israel (twice), and as Canadian representative to the Palestinians and high commissioner to Cyprus.
This international development lectureship was created in 2005 with an endowment from former University of Guelph president William Winegard and his family.
Winegard served as president and vice-chancellor from 1967 to 1975 and as Guelph MP from 1984 to 1993. He became Canada’s first minister of science, and chaired the House of Commons standing committees on external affairs and national defence, and external affairs and international trade. Winegard served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of international trade. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1998.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53338, or lhunt@uoguelph.ca; or Kevin Gonsalves, Ext. 56982, or kgonsalves@uoguelph.ca.
