Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Paul Andrew Maddison, is a Canadian academic, former diplomat and retired officer of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. He served as

Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy ( French: ''Commandant de la Marine royale canadienne'') is the title of the institutional head of the Royal Canadian Navy. This appointment also includes the title of Chief of the Naval Staff and is based at ...

from 22 July 2011 to 21 June 2013. He subsequently served as the High Commissioner of Canada to Australia from August 2015 until May 2019.

Career

Maddison joined the Canadian Forces in 1975.VAdm Paul Maddison: plotting a future course for the RCN
Esprit de Corps, 1 May 2012 In 1980, he graduated from

Royal Military College Saint-Jean The Royal Military College Saint-Jean (), commonly referred to as RMC Saint-Jean and CMR, is a Canadian Military academy, military college and university. It is located on the historical site of Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec), Fort Saint-Jean, in Sai ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. He served on various vessels and in appointments with both the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and Pacific fleets. In 1991, he deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

with the Canadian Task Group. From 1994 to 1996, Maddison served as Executive Officer of the frigate . This was followed by his first command, , from 1997 to 1999. From 1999 to 2002, he was posted to

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

headquarters. From 2002 to 2004 he captained the destroyer , a period which included a deployment to the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea as part of

Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is a multinational naval task force, set up in 2009 as a response to piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Its mission is to disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea and to engag ...

. In 2005, Maddison's career shifted to

National Defence Headquarters National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of the Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence ...

in Ottawa, where he became Director General of Maritime Force Development and then Commander of the Standing Contingency Task Force the following year. In 2007 he became Assistant Chief of Military Personnel. In May 2008, Maddison assumed command of the navy's Atlantic fleet,

Maritime Forces Atlantic In the Canadian Forces, Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. It was once referred to as Canadian Atlantic Station. ...

, as well as Joint Task Force Atlantic, the military organization responsible for domestic operations in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

.Speaker Biographies
/ref> In August 2010, Maddison became the Assistant Chief of the Maritime Staff under Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden. Upon McFadden's retirement from the Canadian Forces on July 21, 2011, Maddison became

before retiring in 2013. In June 2015, Maddison was appointed as the High Commissioner of Canada to Australia. He relinquished the post in 2019, and was appointed the inaugural director of the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

Defence Research Institute in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia.

Awards and decorations

Maddison's personal awards and decorations include the following:

CAN Order of Military Merit Commander and Officer

South-West Asia Service Medal with Afganistan bar ribbon

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maddison, Paul Living people Commanders of the Order of Military Merit (Canada) Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Royal Military College Saint-Jean alumni Royal Canadian Navy officers Commanders of the Legion of Merit Canadian admirals High commissioners of Canada to Australia Year of birth missing (living people) Commanders of the Royal Canadian Navy