Alex Himelfarb

Alexander "Alex" Himelfarb, Ph.D. (born 1947) is a senior Canadian civil servant and former academic. He is currently Canadian Ambassador to Italy.

Born in Germany, he was raised and educated in Toronto. He received a Ph.D in sociology from University of Toronto. In 1981, he married Frum Himelfarb and they have three children: Jordan, David, and Nomi.

He was a professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick from 1972 to 1981. He authored two introductory textbooks on sociology with co-author C. James Richardson that were used extensively in Canadian universities in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These were:
# People, Power and Process
# Sociology for Canadians (2 editions, and a reader)

He started with the Canadian public service in 1981 joining the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada. In 1999, he became Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage. In 2002 he was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. On June 14 2006, an Order in Council was issued appointing him Ambassador to the Italian Republic, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Albania and the Republic of San Marino, and as High Commissioner in the Republic of Malta, and as Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, in Rome.

In 2000, he was awarded "The Outstanding Achievement Award", considered to be the most prestigious award in the Canadian public service. In 2006, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Memorial University in Newfoundland.

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