History
CIGI was founded in 2001 by Research In Motion (RIM) co-CEO Jim Balsillie, following his vision to lay the framework for an institution tasked with helping solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Balsillie made an initial donation of $20 million to establish the New Economy Institute (renamed CIGI in 2003), with Mike Lazaridis, his co-CEO at RIM, contributing an additional $10 million. The combined $30 million in funds was matched by the Government of Canada in 2003.
Among CIGI’s first staff was its initial executive director John English, director of public affairs John Milloy and distinguished fellows Andrew F. Cooper and Paul Heinbecker. The first CIGI International Board of Governors (IBG) meeting was held in October 2003, with early members including Jagdish Bhagwati, Joe Clark, Angel Gurria, and Anne-Marie Slaughter.
In 2005, CIGI published its first working paper and experienced rapid growth in its research agenda, publications and public events programming. In 2007, CIGI partnered with the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University to launch the BSIA. In 2009, CIGI announced plans to house the BSIA within a “CIGI Campus” that would be built alongside its headquarters in Waterloo. The resulting $68 million complex received federal and provincial funding totalling $50 million through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program and Ontario’s 2009 budget. The City of Waterloo donated the land for the campus through a 99-year lease.
In late 2009, English was succeeded as CIGI executive director by Thomas A. Bernes, who previously held high-level positions at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Government of Canada. CIGI has also recently added former Toronto Star editor-in-chief J. Fred Kuntz as vice president of public affairs, and David B. Dewitt, former associate vice-president of research, social sciences and humanities at York University, who now serves as CIGI’s vice president of programs.
In 2011, CIGI celebrated its tenth anniversary with the opening of the CIGI Campus, and published CIGI at 10, a retrospective book celebrating its history.
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