Member of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: October 30, 2003
• Invested on: October 30, 2004

As a career diplomat and later as an archeologist, James Langley has enhanced Canada's reputation abroad. While at the Department of Foreign Affairs, he served in many capacities, including ambassador to Mexico and Belgium and the Canadian permanent representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). After retiring from public service, he pursued a doctorate in archaeology. He was the first to decode the communication symbols used by the pre-Colombian civilization of Teotihuacan in Mexico. In addition, he was a founding director of the Canadian Society for Mesoamerican Studies.