Andrew F. Cooper, Background

After graduating from Oxford University with a D.Phil. in international relations, Andrew F. Cooper returned to his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Waterloo, as an assistant professor in the early 1980s. Through his initial work in the political science department, Andrew helped establish The Centre for Foreign Policy and Federalism at the university, becoming progressively interested in the developing field of global governance.

Over the next two decades, this interest in global governance saw Andrew attain visiting fellowships at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, the Australian National University’s Department of International Relations, and at DFAIT as the Léger Fellow, Planning Staff. In 2000 he was the Canada-US Fulbright Scholar at John Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. During this time, Andrew was the co-recipient of the Canada-Australia Bicentennial Institutional Research Award for the book Relocating Middle Powers, wrote a number of well-cited scholarly publications and led training sessions on trade issues, governance and diplomacy in Canada, South Africa and at the World Trade Organization.

Andrew joined CIGI in 2002, shortly after the organization was founded, as one of the think tank’s first global governance experts. One of his most vivid memories is talking about the need for innovation in global governance on the sidelines of an informal reception hosted by John Manley, Canada’s then-foreign affairs minister, the night before they ran the 2001 New York City Marathon. At CIGI, Andrew has been a resident expert on a wide array of governance topics, including emerging powers, G8 reform, small states, Latin America, global health governance and the phenomenon of celebrity diplomacy. He has authored, co-authored and edited numerous books, policy briefs and journal articles, and been widely quoted and published in the international media. As a distinguished fellow, Andrew has found his work on the G8 and G20 particularly rewarding, having attended numerous summits and written extensively about the G8 and G20 process.

Throughout his time at CIGI, Andrew has continued to be involved in international governance scholarship as a professor at the University of Waterloo, and in 2009, he received another Fulbright award as a visiting research chair at the Center on Public Diplomacy (University of Southern California). Andrew is also a member of the International Advisory Board of the GARNET Network of Excellence and The Hague Journal of Diplomacy.

Andrew lives in both Toronto and Waterloo. He enjoys running and movies in his spare time, as well as vacationing in different places around the world — some of which he discovered through his work at CIGI.