Russell Davidson

After graduating in 1963, I stayed on for a Ph.D. in plasma physics/statistical mechanics under Ernest Laing.    Arthur Kent did so as well, and was in the same office.

In 1966, a NATO fellowship took me to the Free University of Brussels, where I worked in the department of Ilya Prigogine. He was appointed the next year to the University of Texas at Austin, and sent me off there for three years as a Faculty Associate.

After that came the great job crunch, leaving me little choice but to return to Brussels, where I met my wife.   We were married there, and left immediately afterwards for UBC in Vancouver, where I took up absolutely the last post-doc in physics I could find. Unemployment set in after two years.

A largely random series of events led to my taking another Ph.D., in economics this time, at UBC.     From there I went to Queen's University in Kingston Ontario as an Assistant Professor, having taken Canadian nationality.

I was at Queen's for 25 years, although for the last fifteen I also had a job at what is now Aix-Marseille University. This caused me to split my time between Canada and France, as I still do.    

With my friend and co-author James MacKinnon, still at Queen's, I have written two textbooks of econometrics.     In  2002, I moved to McGill University in Montreal, to take up a Canada Research Chair.     I am still there, as there is no mandatory retirement in Quebec. In France there is, and so there I am emeritus.   I am a Fellow of the Econometric Society and of the Royal Society of Canada.