Scholarly Director
Dr. Kevin Quigley
Kevin Quigley is the Scholarly Director of the MacEachen Institute and a professor at Dalhousie’s Department of Public and International Affairs, where he specializes in public sector risk and crisis management, strategic management and critical infrastructure protection.
As Scholarly Director, Kevin is responsible for determining the key strategic research priorities and direction for the Institute. He brings a blend of academic, research and public sector experience to his role as Institute head, facilitating the vital connections between the research community and private and public sector policy-makers.
Professor Quigley has worked on research and innovation projects with public sector organizations such as Public Safety Canada, Defense Research and Development Canada, Global Affairs Canada and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. He has contributed to many national and international research initiatives that have raised millions in support of risk research.
Kevin's latest book, Seized by Uncertainty: The Markets, Media, and Special Interests That Shaped Canada’s Response to COVID-19 (2024), examines the Canadian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It serves as a comprehensive review of the context in which the pandemic emerged, and what the government’s response to the crisis tells us about how we as a society cope with risk.
He is also the author of Too Critical to Fail: How Canada Manages Threats to Critical Infrastructure (2017), which was shortlisted for the 2017 Donner Prize for Best Public Policy Book by a Canadian.
Professor Quigley earned his master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and his PhD from Queen’s University, Belfast. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh and a visiting scholar at the American Political Science Association in Washington, DC and at Sciences Po in Toulouse, France.
The latest from Kevin:
Should Donald Trump be re-elected on Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is likely facing a major shake-up. Many Republicans were frustrated by the CDC’s performance during the pandemic, describing the CDC as incompetent and arrogant.
In fact, no matter who wins the United States presidential election on Nov. 5, the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a cautionary tale for Canada.
One of the most bizarre aspects of the United States presidential election has been how difficult it’s been to determine the truth — particularly due to Republican Donald Trump’s candidacy — and if the truth even matters.
As former Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci once noted about the former president: “Don’t take him literally, take him symbolically.” This advice wasn’t very helpful.