Professor Gerry Higgins

Professor Gerry Higgins is the Director of MBA Field Projects at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. In this role he and his staff supervise over one hundred major field projects around the world every year.

Gerry Higgins career began in machining and hydraulics. In 1974 he joined the Pitt Steel group of companies and was mandated to build Pitt’s first mini-rolling mill, Courtice Specialty Steels Ltd. This very successful company was eventually sold to TSE traded Harris Steel.

Gerry was a professor of strategic and financial management in the honours (HBA) and masters (MBA) business programs at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario from 1980 to 1991. During this period, he also taught courses for the Canadian Institute of Management, the Canadian Insurance Institute and the Institute of Canadian Bankers. He has led major strategic planning activities for such organizations as the Royal Bank of Canada, General Motors Canada, Westinghouse Canada, IBM, Tapp Technologies, Automated Tooling Systems and the governments of Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy and Kenya.

From 1991 to 1993, Gerry served as Senior Economic Advisor to the Honourable Tom Hockin, Federal Minister of Science & Minister of State for both small business and tourism. These portfolios controlled such federal departments as the National Research Council, the Canadian Space Agency and the Federal Business Development Bank. In this role, he reported directly to the Minister, developed policy and assisted in drafting key legislation. When the Honourable Tom Hockin was appointed Minister of International Trade, Gerry served as his Senior Economic Advisor from 1992 to 1993. In this position, he assisted the Minister in negotiations of the NAFTA “side agreements” with the United States and Mexico.

In 1997, Professor Higgins returned to the Richard Ivey School of Business to assume the role of Director of the Ivey Cross Enterprise Project (ICEP), Ivey Client Field Project (ICFP) and to resume his role as a professor of strategic management. He is currently a director and/or advisor to several rapidly growing Canadian corporations, as well as the London Convention Centre, Certus Corporation and KMW Energy.