Alumni Awards
Bissett Alumni Award for Distinctive Contributions to the Public Sector
With decades of experience educating public servants, the School’s alumni have progressed into diverse positions in the federal, provincial and municipal governments, the private sector, consulting and beyond.
We celebrate our alumni through the Bissett Alumni Award, named in recognition of the contributions to public service of an alumnus of the School of Public Policy and Administration, James (Joe) Bissett. In 1956, Mr. Bissett became one of the first students to graduate from Carleton with a Master of Arts in Public Administration. Joining our earlier graduates from the Diploma in Public Administration, he became part of tradition of dedicated public service that is continued by more than 3000 alumni. James Bissett has had a long and distinguished career in public service in both the Canadian and International contexts, thereby reflecting both the Canadian and International dimensions of our program.
Mr. Bissett spent 36 years as a public servant in the Department of Citizenship and immigration and Foreign Affairs. He was appointed head of the Immigration Foreign Service in 1974 and became Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Social Affairs in 1980. In the 1970s he served at the Canadian High Commission in London England and later as Canadian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. He returned to Canada in the 1980s where he helped to steer new immigration and refugee legislation through Parliament. In 1990 he was appointed Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania. After leaving the Foreign Service, he accepted a position in Moscow as the head of an International organization helping the Russian Federation establish a new Immigration Ministry and designing and implementing settlement programs. He returned from Moscow in 1997 and is enjoying retirement in Ottawa by continuing to be active as a writer and commentator on public affairs.
2024 Recipient
Catherine Stewart: 2024 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
Catherine Stewart was appointed as Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change in 2022, having served since 2014 in various senior executive…
Previous Recipients
Bob Masterson: 2023 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
Bob Masterson is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC). He is the chief…
Danielle McDonald: 2022 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
As Chief Executive Officer of Ottawa Public Library (OPL), North America’s largest bilingual (English French) public library Danielle McDonald provides…
Barbara Grantham: 2020 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
The recipient of the 2020 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award is Barbara Grantham (Master of Arts in Public Administration, 1987). Barbara…
George Bruce Linton: 2019 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
The recipient of the 2019 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award is George Bruce Linton (Bachelor of Public Administration, 1992). Bruce Linton…
George Zegarac: 2018 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
George Zegarac was appointed Deputy Minister of Infrastructure in June of 2016. He brings a wealth of experience with the…
Christine Hogan: 2017 Bissett Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Christine Hogan began her term as Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean at the World Bank Group in…