Dr. Robert Walker is an independent advisor and retired public sector executive.
From November 2010, until his retirement in September 2015, Dr. Walker was with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a federal Crown Corporation, first as Senior Vice President Nuclear Laboratories and from October 2011 as the corporation's President and Chief Executive Officer. From November 2014, he was concurrently the first President and CEO of AECL's then wholly owned subsidiary, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.
Prior to joining the AECL, Dr. Walker had a career of 33 years as scientist, manager, and executive with the research and development arm of the Department of National Defence. From August 2005 until November 2010, he was the Assistant Deputy Minister Science and Technology at DND, the Chief Executive Officer of Defence Research and Development Canada and the departmental Chief Scientist.
Dr. Walked is a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa's Institute for Science, Society and Policy. He is a member fo McMaster University's Board of Governors and the Vice Chair of the Governing Board of the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, located at McMaster. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the Chair of the NATO Research and Technology Board, the senior oversight body for cooperative research within the nATO framework. From 2012 to 2018, he was Chair of the Board for the Network of Centres of Excellence in Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR), hosted by Dalhousie University . Dr. Walker is a director and post Chair of the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Renfrew County.
Dr. Walked earned a BSc in Physics from Acadia University ('73), an MEng in Engineering Physics ('75) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University ('77). He has been awarded honorary Doctors of Science from McMaster University (2013) and Acadia University (2017) and an honorary Doctor of Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada (2015). He is a graduate of the National Defence College and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Dr. Walker is a recipient of the Canadian Forces Medallion for Distinguished Service and the Canadian Nuclear Association's 2015 Ian McRae Award of Merit.