Halstead, John G. H., 1922-1998 : John Halstead was born January 27, 1922 in Vancouver to Joan (Minnie Williams Horler) and Frank Henry Halstead. Educated in Vancouver, he graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in Modern Languages in 1943 and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. As a Lieutenant with Naval Intelligence, Halstead served in Canada, England and Germany. He joined the Department of External Affairs upon his discharge from the military in 1946. In 1947 he took a year of educational leave to study economic history at the London School of Economics and graduated with a B.Sc in 1950. He married Jean McAllister in 1953. They had two children, Ian and Christopher.
Halstead`s diplomatic career spanned 36 years and focused on European Affairs and international security. His postings abroad included London (1948-52), Tokyo (1955-58), the United Nations in New York (1958-60) and Paris (1961-66), where he was Deputy Head of Mission. He was Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (1975-80) and Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to NATO in Brussels (1980-82). In Ottawa, Halstead served on the NATO desk (1952-55), as head of the European Division and Deputy Chairman, Special Task Force on Europe (1966-71), as Assistant Under-Secretary for the Department (1971-74) and as Deputy Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs (1974-75). Halstead also organized President de Gaulle`s visit to Canada in 1967. He retired from the Department in 1982.
In his second career as an educator and consultant, Halstead participated in foreign service training as well as the study of international security and foreign policy. He lectured on NATO and International Relations at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (1984-89), the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa (1990), Queen`s University, Kingston (1994-97), and the Canadian Foreign Service Institute (1995-96). He attended and addressed numerous policy conferences around the world and organized the Georgetown/Carleton International Security Seminar Series between 1986 and 1996. He also co-wrote the report of the Special Joint Committee of Parliament Reviewing Canadian Foreign Policy in 1994.
Halstead was Distinguished Visiting Professor (1983) and International Counselor with the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University (1986-1995). He was appointed Paul Martin Professor of International Affairs and Law, University of Windsor (1987-88) and Skelton-Clark Fellow, Queen`s University, (1994-95). He chaired or was appointed to the board of several prominent organizations, including the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security and the Atlantic Council of Canada. He was the author of numerous articles and monographs on international affairs. He was the first recipient of the Association of German Veterans Peace Prize (1989) and received an honourary Ph.D. from the University of Augsburg in 1994. Halstead was named to the Order of Canada in 1996.
