Gordon George Thiessen, (born August 14, 1938) is an economist and banker who was the sixth governor of the Bank of Canada from 1994 to 2001, succeeding John Crow. He was succeeded by David A. Dodge. Thiessen was born in

South Porcupine, Ontario The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core. According to Barnes, "With the ...

and raised in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. Thiessen studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

and received an Honours BA in 1960 and an 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 The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, 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 Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

in recognition of the assistance provided by the Bank of Canada to the Swedish Central Bank (Sveriges Riksbank) to assist them in developing their policy framework for combating inflation when the

Swedish Krona The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, espec ...

was first floated in January 1993.Inflation Targeting - The Swedish Experience
from The Bank of Canada accessed on May 26, 2007 In 1997, Thiessen received an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LL.D) degree from the

. 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. In 2002, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. In 2002, he received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, and in 2012, he received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.

References

External links

Order of Canada Citation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiessen, Gordon 1938 births Living people People from Timmins Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Saskatchewan alumni Governors of the Bank of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Order of the Polar Star