Question: Facts:     - awards: order of canada    - birth date: 20 april 1939    - name: james downey    - birth place: winterton , newfoundland    - occupation: academic   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of james downey -lrb- academic -rrb- .
Answer:
james downey , -lrb- born april 20 , 1939 -rrb- is a canadian academic .born in winterton , newfoundland , downey was a graduate of memorial university of newfoundland and of the university of london where , as a rothermere fellow , he earned a phd in english literature in 1966 .at carleton university , where he began his career , he held a series of academic and administrative posts , including chairman of the english department , dean of the faculty of arts , vice-president -lrb- academic -rrb- and interim president for the first five months of 1979 .from 1980 to 1990 he was president of the university of new brunswick .during that period he also served terms as president of the canadian bureau for international education , chairman of the association of atlantic universities and chairman of the corporate-higher education forum .from 1990 to 1993 he was special advisor to the premier of new brunswick and co-chairman of the new brunswick commission on excellence in education , which published two reports that guided educational reform in that province .downey was president of the university of waterloo from 1993 to 1999 , during which time he also served terms as chairman of the council of ontario universities and chair of the association of commonwealth universities .his publications include `` the eighteenth century pulpit '' -lrb- oxford university press , 1969 -rrb- , `` fearful joy '' -lrb- mcgill-queens university press , 1973 -rrb- , `` schools for a new century '' and `` to live and learn '' -lrb- reports of the new brunswick commission on excellence in education , 1992 , 1993 -rrb- , `` innovation : essays by leading canadian researchers '' , edited with lois claxton -lrb- key porter books , 2002 -rrb- , and `` lord beaverbrook and the kennedys '' -lrb- university of new brunswick , 2012 -rrb- .among his awards are honorary degrees from six canadian and two american universities .in 2000 he was the recipient from the association of commonwealth universities of the symons medal for...