Harold G. Coward

Harold G. Coward

Doctor of Civil Law

Dr. Harold Coward was born in Calgary, Alberta and began his University education at the University of Alberta where he completed first his Bachelor of Arts in 1958; then a Bachelor of Divinity (Christian Theology); and finally a Master of Arts (Psychology) in 1969. Continuing his education Dr. Coward earned a doctoral degree in Philosophy at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 1973. He and his wife, Rachel, have three children: David, Kenneth and Susan.

Dr. Coward has had a distinguished career at both the University of Victoria and the University of Calgary in the Departments of History and Religious Studies. He has recently finished his tenure as founding Director of the Centre for studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. Under his directorship this Centre became respected as a research oriented centre for the study of religion and society. Currently a member of the Genome British Columbia Board of Directors, he serves as a specialist on ethics and biotechnology. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1991; is listed in the Canadian Who's Who: and in June 2002 was listed as one of the 25 Power Thinkers in British Columbia by the BC Business Magazine.

Dr. Coward is know internationally as a specialist in the philosophy and religion of Indian, and has authored many books and journal articles. One of these books was Population, Consumption, and the Environment: Religious and Secular Responses (State University of New York press, 1995) was nominated for the Grawemeyer Award - the Religion equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Actively involved in his community, Dr. Coward has been a member of the National Advisory Council, a coach for the Canadian Pony Club, the Alberta Tetrathlon Team and Chaplain for the XVth Commonwealth Games in Victoria (1994). Most recently he was a member of the Task Force on the Relationship of the United Church and Aboriginal Spirituality.