Michael Ignatieff

Born in Canada, educated at the University of Toronto and Harvard, Michael Ignatieff is a university professor, writer, and former politician. He is a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and holds thirteen honorary degrees. Between 2012 and 2015 he served as Centennial Chair at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York. Between 2014 and 2016 he was Edward R. Murrow Chair of the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Michael was until recently the Rector and President of Central European University in Budapest. He stepped down at the end of July 2021 to stay as a professor in the history department. He has written biography, reportage, history, and philosophy. His recurrent themes are the fate of human rights and liberal values in a time of convulsive change. His novel Scar Tissue (2000) was nominated for the Booker Prize and his defense of academic freedom and liberal principles earned him the Dan David Prize in 2019.