Alan Bowker was born in Medicine Hat and educated in Winnipeg, Toronto, Chatham (NJ), and Oakville, ON. He holds a BA in history and English and an MA and PhD in Canadian history, all from the University of Toronto. His writings include A Time Such as There Never Was Before: Canada After the Great War, two collections of essays by Stephen Leacock, and essays and articles.
After academic study and a year teaching high school, Bowker joined the Department of External Affairs in 1973. He was posted to Tanzania and Zimbabwe and as High Commissioner to Guyana and Ambassador to Suriname. At headquarters he managed Canada-US economic, environmental, transport, and boundary issues; Canadian participation in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe; Cabinet and Parliamentary Liaison; and Access to Information and Privacy Protection. As Director of International Academic Relations he was responsible for international education policy, Canadian Studies abroad, education marketing, and scholarship and youth exchange programs. For the last three years of his career he was seconded to Royal Military College of Canada where he taught Canadian history, military history, civics, foreign and defence policy, social history, and the history of the Cold War. He retired in 2008.
His academic studies, his teaching experience, and his career in foreign affairs have all reinforced his conviction that Canadians need to know their history if we are to understand who we are and why our experience matters in the world.
He and his wife Carolyn live in Ottawa. They enjoy travel, reading, music, and visits with their two daughters and their families.
