Gordon Thiessen

Who is Gordon Thiessen?

Gordon George Thiessen, OC was the sixth Governor of the Bank of Canada from 1994 to 2001, succeeding John Crow. He was succeeded by David A. Dodge.

Born in South Porcupine, Ontario and raised in Saskatchewan, Thiessen studied economics at the University of Saskatchewan and received an Honours BA in 1960 and a MA in 1961. He taught economics for a year and then joined the Bank of Canada in 1963. From 1965 to 1967 he attended the London School of Economics, from which he received his Ph.D in Economics in 1972.

At the Bank of Canada, Thiessen was appointed Adviser to the Governor in 1979, Deputy Governor in 1984, and Senior Deputy Governor in 1987.

In 1996, he received the government of Sweden's Order of the Polar Star in recognition of the assistance provided by the Bank of Canada to the Swedish Central Bank to assist them in developing their policy framework for combating inflation when the Swedish Krona was first floated in January 1993.

In 1997, Thiessen received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

On September 25, 2001, Thiessen was elected to the IPSCO Board of Directors. On February 1, 2002, Thiessen was elected to the Manulife Financial Board of Directors.