Professor Gordon McBean has been President of the International Council for Science since 2014 and his term ended on July 4, 2018, with the formal merger with the International Social Sciences Council to create the International Science Council – all sciences for the global good. He is Professor Emeritus of Geography at Western University, London, Canada and was Co-Chair (2016-18) of the Governing Council for Future Earth: Research for Global Sustainability.  He was Professor of Geography at Western (2000-2015) with joint appointments in Political Science and Physics. From 1994 to 2000 he was Assistant Deputy Minister at Environment Canada with responsibility for climate, weather and air quality sciences and services and advising the government on related issues. Previously, he was Professor of Atmospheric-Oceanic Sciences at University of British Columbia.

He received his PhD in Physics and Oceanography from the University of British Columbia. He has been very active in international and national scientific programs: Chair (1988-94), World Climate Research Programme; Chair, Planning/Science Committee, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Program (2005-2011); President (2009-15) of START International (environmental capacity enhancement in Africa and Asia); and President and CEO, Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (2000-2011). He has been a leader in the ArcticNet NCE and is now investigator with the Marine Environmental Observations Prediction and Response NCE. He has also led IDRC, SSHRC and NSERC funded projects. He is a Member of the Order of Canada (2008) for “the advancement of climate and atmospheric sciences in Canada and for leadership in national and international scientific organizations”, and Order of Ontario (2010) and was awarded, in 2015: University of British Columbia Alumni Award of Distinction; American Geophysical Union Ambassador Award; and Cleveland Abbe Prize, American Meteorological Society; and in 2017, the International Meteorological Organization Prize for his outstanding work in meteorology and climatology and his leadership as a scientific researcher. He shares in the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize as an IPCC contributor in 2007. He is a Fellow of the: Royal Society of Canada; American Geophysical Union; Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society; International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics; and American Meteorological Society.