Michel Jean

Mr. Jean graduated from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in Physics in 1982 and obtained his master’s degree in meteorology from McGill University in 1987. After being an operational meteorologist, he has managed regional and national atmospheric and climate science programs, regional field operations in the area of weather prediction and atmospheric and hydrometric monitoring and the development of national weather and environmental prediction systems. In 2014, Mr Jean has been tasked to establish a new organization, the Canadian Centre for Meteorological and Environmental Prediction, whose objective is to provide Canada with the best human, science and technology infrastructure to analyze and predict atmospheric, ocean and ice conditions for decision making. He has been responsible for the long term High Performance Computing strategy and the development and implementation of the next generation integrated forecaster workstation in Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

Aside from his national responsibilities, Mr. Jean has been involved in international activities with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He has been a member of the WMO Commission for basic Systems (CBS) Management Group since 2006. He has been elected President of the Commission for Basic Systems in 2016 and elected President of the Commission for Observations, Information and Infrastructure Systems (the Infrastructure Commission) in June 2019.

Mr. Jean retired from the Canadian Public Service in 2021 and has been awarded with an Emeritus Associate status. Mr. Jean is the recipient of several citations and awards within the Public Service of Canada, including citations of excellence. He is also the 2002 recipient of the Andrew Thompson prize in applied meteorology from the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. He received the 2018 Patterson Distinguished Service Medal for distinguished service to meteorology in Canada. Prior to retiring from the Canadian Public Service, he received the 2019 Jim Bruce Award which recognizes outstanding contributions to the environment and climate change programs in Canada.