Dan Breznitz awarded 2021 Donner Prize

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 19:55:33 +0000

Research & Innovation

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 06/08/2022 - 15:55

Faculty

St. George

Donner Prize

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Faculty of Arts & Science

landscape

Dan Breznitz (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

University Professor Dan Breznitz has won the 2021 Donner Prize for his book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, published by Oxford University Press.

The $50,000 prize is awarded annually by the Donner Canadian Foundation to Canadian authors who showcase excellence and innovation in public policy.

“I am truly humbled by this honour,” said Breznitz, who is the Munk Chair of Innovation Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, with a cross-appointment to the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “We have an amazing country and a thriving society – it is time we make sure Canadians can excel in Canada and make Canada excel in turn, without having to leave it.”

The Donner Prize jury called Innovation in Real Places “essential reading for anyone interested in policy, industry, science, finance, competition, and regional development.”

One of the many strengths of the book is the differentiation between invention and innovation. Breznitz focuses on diverse types of innovation and the role of governments to facilitate – and not impede – the innovation process,” said the jury, which was chaired by David Dodge, former governor of the Bank of Canada. “There is little doubt that innovation is a key driver of economic progress, and Breznitz offers a clear explanation of the range of factors at play that can help or hinder the growth of an innovation economy.”

Breznitz co-directs the Munk School’s Innovation Policy Lab and co-leads CIFAR’s program on innovation, equity and the future of prosperity. Breznitz is currently serving as the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist in the federal department of finance.

Joseph Heath wins Donner Prize

lanthierj — Tue, 18 May 2021 23:38:01 +0000

Joseph Heath wins Donner Prize

Community

lanthierj Tue, 05/18/2021 - 19:38

Faculty

St. George

Department of Philosophy

Donner Prize

Faculty of Arts & Science

landscape

Professor Joseph Heath of the Faculty of Arts & Science has won the 2020 Donner Prize for the best book on public policy.

Heath, a professor in the department of philosophy and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, won for The Machinery of Government: Public Administration and the Liberal State which examines how much power rests in the hands of the public service.

“If you look at the field of political philosophy, people spend about 75 per cent of their time talking about democracy and the legislature, maybe 20 per cent of their time talking about courts and the judiciary and practically no time at all talking about the executive branch of government or bureaucracy,” Heath says. “Part of what I’m trying to do in the book is address this power.”

It is the first time Heath has won the Donner Prize, although he was shortlisted for his book, Enlightenment 2.0 in 2014.

“The last time that I was nominated, it was for a popular book that had already had a certain amount of press and a wide readership,” Heath told Artsci News. “This time, it's for a scholarly book that might otherwise have languished in obscurity.”

Professor Ron Deibert of the department of political science and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy was also shortlisted for the prize for Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society

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Dan Breznitz awarded 2021 Donner Prize

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