Dr. R. G. Ackman

Professor Emeritus Robert G. Ackman B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D., LL.D World's Leading Expert on Marine Oils Canadian Institute of Fisheries Technology, Dal Tech, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

Dr. Robert Ackman began his career in fish oils and lipids and fatty acids in our diets with the Fisheries Research Board of Canada in 1950. With time out to get his doctorate in London England, he became chief scientist in the marine oils department of the Fisheries Laboratory under Fisheries and Oceans Canada. His 1980 transfer to a Professorship in Food Sciences with Dalhousie University enhanced his international reputation in the study of fats and oils in our nutrition. This work was recognized by his Order of Canada award in 2002.

Dr. Ackman has published over 600 scientific articles, many reflecting his enthusiasm for gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) of methyl esters of fatty acids. His early applications of GLC led to the wide recognition of the roles of long-chain Omega 3 fatty acids in marine life such as seals and established their importance in the Greenland "Eskimo Diet" that now reduces our deaths from heart conditions. His international interests were shown when he discovered a novel Japanese Iatroscan TLC-FID on display at a meeting in Marseilles and promptly bought one for his Canadian laboratory. A few publications with it made it a must-have piece of equipment in oceanographic laboratories all over the world. It made possible complete analysis of lipid classes in tiny organisms, furthering our understanding of where the long-chain Omega 3 fatty acids originate. Through active participation in the American Oil Chemists' Society, the Association of Official Analytical Chemists and on many Canadian Government Expert Committees, he has had influence on our health thinking worthy of the accolades he has received.

Ercel Baker

Ercel Baker Chairman and CEO, Baker Group International

Ercel Baker Chairman and CEO, Baker Group International, Adjunct Professor at the China National School of Administration in Beijing and serves as Director of two Canadian companies:

Once Corporation of Ottawa

China World Trade Corporation of Calgary

Ercel Baker joined the Privy Council Office of Canada in June 1994, as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Machinery of Government and Senior Personnel).

For one year before joining the Privy Council Office, he served in the dual capacity of Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Between July 1991 and June 1993, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Consulting and Audit Canada, managing the provision of a wide range of consulting and audit services in Canada and internationally.

During this same period until his departure from government in November 1995, Mr. Baker was Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the President of the Treasury Board on Pensions.

His career in the federal public service began in 1959 as a Pension Plan Examiner in the Department of Finance following which he held progressively more responsible positions with program departments and central agencies including: Atlantic Regional Personnel Officer, Department of Supply and Services, Senior Evaluation Officer, Performance Measurement Policy Division; and later Director of the Personnel Management Evaluation Program for the federal public service, Treasury Board Secretariat.

Mr. Baker was Executive Director of the Public Service Commission for eleven years with particular responsibility for the recruitment, development and counseling of executives in the federal public service. Beginning with his tenure with the Public Service Commission, he worked for many years with relevant Ministries and Commissions of the People's Republic of China, advising and assisting in their reform of the civil service. In 1994, he was decorated by China with the Friendship Award and Medal for foreign experts.