Officer of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: October 30, 2003
• Invested on: December 10, 2004

Canada's foremost expert on risk communication and management, William Leiss has promoted a deeper understanding and evaluation of technologically generated risk. He has advised federal and provincial agencies on environmental and health risk questions. Professor at Queen's University, he holds the NSERC/SSHRC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) Industry Research Chair in Risk Communication and Public Policy at the University of Calgary. A Fellow and past-president of the Royal Society of Canada, he was instrumental in establishing a committee to provide unbiased examinations of complex scientific and public issues.