Kenneth D. Taylor

Kenneth Douglas "Ken" Taylor, OC , BA , MBA , LL.D (born October 5, 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) was a Canadian ambassador to Iran. Taylor helped six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979 by contacting Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark and getting him to issue the Americans Canadian passports to fool the Iranians into believing they were Canadians in a covert operation called the Canadian caper.

The Iranian students invaded the United States embassy on November 4, 1979 (Iran hostage crisis). During the riot the six Americans managed to escape. They then hid for four days before reaching the Canadian embassy where they met Taylor who devised the plan to get them out of Iran safely. The other 52 hostages were released on the last day of U.S. President Jimmy Carter's term in office, in January 1981.

After returning from Iran, Taylor was appointed Canadian Consul-General to New York City.In 1980, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was also awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal that same year [cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History/goldMedal.html| title =Congressional Gold Medal Recipients| accessdate = 2006-07-30] .

Ken Taylor completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and has since been honored with its highest award, the Order of Constantine. He returned to the University of Toronto for several years as the Chancellor of Victoria College. Ken Taylor remains a Canadian Citizen. He currently resides in New York. Fact|date=June 2008

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