Frédéric Bouchard

Professor, Université de Montréal

Frédéric Bouchard

Professor, Université de Montréal

Distinction

Frédéric Bouchard is named Knight of the Ordre National du Québec.

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Presentation by Frédéric Bouchard

Frédéric Bouchard C.Q. Ph.D. FRSC is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Full Professor in the Philosophy Department at the Université de Montréal. As a philosopher of science, his interdisciplinary research focuses on the relationship between expertise, science and society, as well as on the theoretical foundations of evolutionary biology and ecology.

Academic Background and Honors

After a BA and MA at the Université de Montréal, he pursued a doctorate in philosophy at Duke University (Ph.D. 2004), and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto (2005).

He serves as Chair of BAnQ (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec), of the CFI Major Science Initiative Érudit, an open digital publishing platform, and of the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV).

He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) in 2021 in recognition of the excellence of his scholarship.

Il a aussi été nommé (2023) chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes académiques de la République française.

In 2024, the Government of Québec named him Knight of the Ordre national du Québec (C.Q.).

In 2025, for his significant contribution to the nation, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

His profile was also featured in Canadians Who Innovate: The Trailblazers and Ideas That Are Changing the World (by Roseann O’Reilly Runte 2024).

Strategic consulting expertise

Professor Bouchard brings substantial experience in supporting governmental decision-making. He chaired the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System that provided independent, expert policy advice to support the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry (ISI) and the Minister of Health to “modernize the federal research funding ecosystem to maximize the impact of investments in both research excellence and downstream innovation”. The full report (also known as Bouchard Report) was made public March 20th 2023 and many of its recommendations are reflected in the 2024 Federal Budget (Chap.4).

Previously, he served as member of the expert advisory panel for Québec’s 2017-2022 research and innovation strategy (Ministère de l’économie et de l’innovation) and on the committee establishing the new curriculum for all CÉGEP (equivalent of junior college) students in natural sciences in Québec (Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur ); He was also advisor for Canada’s Translation Bureau.

In 2025, he joined the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) expert panel on Enhancing Canada’s National Research Infrastructure

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Commitment to research, innovation and teaching

Professor Bouchard contributes his broad interdisciplinary and administrative expertise to several organizations promoting academic research, knowledge mobilization, technological and social innovation. He is currently a board member of MILA (Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute), RUISSS-UdeM (the Integrated University Health and Social Services Network of the Université de Montréal). He has served as member of the board of CIUSSS-Nord-de-l’île (the Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre for the North of the Island of Montreal), the funding agencies FRQSC Fonds de recherche du Québec-Société et Culture (2012-2015) and the council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) (2018-2022).

He was the inaugural holder of the ÉSOPE Endowed Chair of Philosophy at the Université de Montréal (2014-2016), and served as President of the Canadian Philosophical Association (2014-2015) as well as President of ACFAS (2015-2018), a multi-disciplinary francophone association dedicated to the global advancement of scientific research. Before becoming Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 2017, he was Deputy Vice-Rector for Research, Discovery, Creation and Innovation at Université de Montréal (2015-2017) and director of the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST 2014-2015).

A gifted communicator, he was awarded teaching awards at the Université de Montréal, and is often sought by the media on philosophical and scientific issues (from CBC Ideas to various shows on Radio-Canada).

Many of his additional writings can be found on his Substack blog.