James Mullin: A Remembrance

By Paul Dufour

It is rare Canadian talent that encompasses science policy, international development and science diplomacy with aplomb. When he died on April 6, at the age of 73, such were the skills and sagesse that Scottish-born James Mullin possessed in contributing to Canada's international image and science policy legacy.

An early career at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd in Chalk River AECL gave way to the position of secretary for the Science Council of Canada followed by a stint at the Ministry of State for Science and Technology.

However, it was as VP of the International Development Research Centre — Canada's premier international research organization for the developing world — and subsequently as a consultant advising on international S&T policy in Asia, Latin America and South Africa, that Jim truly distinguished himself.

We crossed professional paths in the mid-90s when Jim asked me to join him (on behalf of IDRC) to help shape the first Green Paper on science and technology for the newly minted Mandela Government. It was there that I learned what a capable, learned science ambassador Canada had in Jim Mullin.

With a team of South African experts, we spent several weeks in Cape Town overlooking a cricket pitch tasked with the design of the consultation paper for the South African minister Ben Ngubane. Jim's successful efforts then led to a request from the South African government to help shape its 1996 White Paper on S&T. This policy paper, adopted by the ANC Government, was at the origins of key institutions and programs that South Africa still manages today.

Indeed, Jim's many subsequent contributions to South Africa's development are well recognized by his colleagues there today. Later, Jim and I also teamed up (with John de la Mothe) on a foreign policy paper to influence Canada's S&T relations in Latin America, a region where the country's diplomatic and trade efforts are now also being deployed.

Jim, you will be missed..Sala Kahle.

Paul Dufour is an adjunct professor and fellow at the Institute for Science, Society and Policy, Univ of Ottawa.