Christopher Sands named the Ross Distinguished Professor at WWU

The College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University has appointed Christopher Sands as the Ross Distinguished Professor of Canada-United States Business and Economic Relations for the 2012-13 academic year.

"We are very pleased to have Christopher Sands join us as Ross Professor. I know he will help students across the University as well as within CBE to understand the special relationship of Canada and the U.S., and he also will be a great contributor to the ongoing community discussions about how to improve the economic climate across the border,” said Brian Burton, dean of CBE. “I’m looking forward to working with him over the next year.”

Sands is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in Canada and U.S.-Canadian relations, as well as North American economic integration.

The Ross Chair engages in teaching, community outreach, and scholarly activity related to business and economic relations between Canada and the United States. The Ross Professorship is housed in Western’s Center for International Business and is funded through an endowment established by the state of Washington and the government of Canada. Canada and the United States share the world's largest trading relationship and business linkages between Washington state and Canada are growing in importance.

Donald Alper, director of the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western, said Sands will be an excellent fit at Western.

“The appointment of Christopher Sands to the Ross Professorship is excellent news for WWU and for Washington state. His renowned expertise on Canada-U.S. business and economic relations will greatly benefit our students and he will be an enormous resource for businesses and other organizations involved in Canada-U.S. trade. I am delighted to welcome Christopher to the Canadian studies community at Western,” said Alper.

Sands is recognized as one the nation’s foremost experts on Canada-U.S. business and political affairs and is regularly interviewed by the national media, including NBC, CNN, CNN International, Fox News Channel, NPR, the BBC, Time, Newsweek, Business Week, US News and World Report, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, and other publications. He is also a professorial lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, an adjunct professor in Government at the American University School of Public Affairs, and lectures at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State and for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In 1999-2000, Sands was a Fulbright Scholar and visiting fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. Sands holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. and a master’s and doctorate in Canadian studies and international economics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Sands is a member of the research advisory board of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, Canada, and is a member of the advisory board of the Canada-United States Law Institute jointly-established by the law schools of Case Western Reserve University and the University of Western Ontario. During the 2012-13 academic year at Western, Sands will teach ECON 491 (Issues in Political Economics), PLSC 497F (Middle Powers & Global Politics), and MBA 515 (Competing in a Global Environment). In addition, Sands will be a valuable resource for business groups, government agencies and civic organizations in the region.

For more information contact Carrie Cooper at Western’s Center for International Business at (360) 650-7288.