John McDougall

John McDougall has been appointed president of the National Research Council effective April 19th, replacing Dr Pierre Coulombe who left the position in mid February. Currently chair of Innoventures Canada (a national consortium of Canada's research and technology deployment organizations) and a director of PFB Corp (industrial products made from beaded foam plastics), McDougall served for 12 years as CEO of the Alberta Research Council (ARC) from 1997 until 2009 when ARC was folded into the new Alberta Innovates - Technology Future corporation, a re-organization strongly supported by McDougall (R$, March 30/09). At NRC, he will be tasked with tackling the agency's substantial annual deficit and perceived lack of outputs from a budget of approximately $900 million. The NRC currently employs about 4,000 people and has 21 institutes spread across the country. McDougall holds a BSc in civil engineering from the Univ of Alberta and completed several post-graduate courses in environmental engineering….