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In August 2016, shortly before he retired from (full-time) academic life, I had the chance to sit down with , PhD'01, to reflect on his lengthy career supporting international development at the University of Ģ����ý in a variety of roles. 

He had such a rich history, I felt sure he would have some amazing stories to tell, so I asked him the loaded question, “Do you have any favourite stories that stand out to you?” 

“A favourite story?” he asked incredulously, pushing his chair back, while simultaneously pushing his coffee cup forward. “There are dozens. Dozens and dozens.” 

Jaques relationship to his arsenal of stories feels like an artist’s relationship to their paints. Over his career — which he continues to this day as a sessional instructor — he describes how he uses his stories to help his students to imagine themselves in that context. 

And with so much context to share Jaques has influenced the University of Ģ����ý, the , the lives of many of his students, and likely collaborated to help save the lives of thousands of people in communities around the world. 

As he left full-time work, after more than 35 years as a professor and international community development consultant with UĢ����ý, Jaques remarked, “I just want some time. I've been really, really busy, it feels to me, for a long time. A lot of time, when I was travelling, I was away from home a lot, away from my kids a lot, away from my wife a lot. So, I just want some time to reflect and think and be without obligation.” 

From physical education to community development

Even though Jaques was born and raised in Ģ����ý’s Inglewood neighbourhood, he attended the University of Alberta where he earned his physical education degree in the early 1970s. In those days, doing social work didn’t always require a specific social work degree and, upon graduating, he took a short-lived, frontline role with a youth agency that convinced him that he wasn’t cut out for face-to-face casework. 

He eventually returned to school and earned a master’s in community development. After consulting for a few years, he became the City of Red Deer’s first social planner, which he described as a “real pleasant experience, a great quality of life and a great learning experience.” 

In the end, however, Red Deer wasn’t home, so he and his family returned to Ģ����ý where he became the director of the , where he implemented his unique and thoughtful approach to community development. 

“One day, somebody from the university came down to the Alex and said, ‘We're interested in how you're doing things,’ because we were taking a bottom-up community-development approach,” Jaques said.

At the time, UĢ����ý was specifically interested in community development through the International Centre, and brought Jaques onboard to leverage his community-development expertise as the manager for a project in Latin America. 

“And that,” said Jaques, “is kind of how I got started.”

Living out of a suitcase, and making an impact in 40 countries

From that point on, Jaques’ life was lived from a suitcase, and he estimates that he completed projects in more than 40 countries. 

“One of my biggest regrets is not having kept a journal. Not so much about the content of it but just the record of it," he said. "I'd go to a country on one project, then return on a different project, so I lose track of when and who. That's a big regret that I wasn't more careful or thorough in keeping track of all of this. A long time ago, my kids gave me a world map and a whole bunch of pins to put on it for all the places I've worked. 

“But sometimes I don't think about it as work. It was just a collaboration. I learned as much as I ever gave and that's just such a cliché, but it's so true. For me, the variety of cultures, places, communities, has been so rich.”

With so many examples to choose from, Jaques focused on a couple of collaborations that contributed an immediate and profound impact. Working with health officials and community leaders in Latin America, Jaques led perinatal projects that dramatically reduced maternal and infant death and morbidity in four countries. 

As he explained, it the key is always to work together with the community to find pragmatic solutions. 

“It's not about bringing solutions,” he said. “It's about understanding how the community already solves and meets its needs. Yes, there might be huge deficiencies, but there's a process in place that has allowed them to address those issues, or similar issues already. So, how can you integrate that strength, wisdom and knowledge — whether or not it can be documented — into addressing whatever issue you're bringing to them?”

Jaques worked with the community to identify and implement practical solutions, such as ending a practice where a woman suffering an obstructed childbirth might be placed on a blanket and vigorously shaken by several men in an attempt to turn the baby around. “We were able to un-package that and over a period of time say, ‘There's another way to do what you’re trying to do,'” he said.

Jaques was also part of UĢ����ý team that introduced and experimented with  in Nicaragua in 1991. The filters were an off-the-wall idea by professor Dr. David Manz, PhD. The cheap and effective technology is now relied upon by hundreds of thousands of people around the world for clean drinking water, and Jaques pointed to the success of that project as a reminder that great results often come from a willingness to take some calculated risks. 

“You've got to take risks,” he said. “One of the issues I have with development and even local development is we're not risk takers because we're so badly critiqued if we fail and we’re reluctant to take a chance on programs that could make a big difference.” 

New York and a penultimate job with the United Nations

On Sept. 11, 2001, Jaques was scheduled to have a meeting in New York City as part of the  (UNITAR). The meeting never happened, for obvious reasons, however, a year later he was selected to be the director of the organization. He took a leave of absence from the university and he and his wife moved to New York in 2002. 

Jaques loved the job and New York and said he admitted, “driving in a taxi thinking, why would I ever go back? Right? There are a lot of things about the UN that wasn't a fit for me because it's primarily an organization of diplomacy. I just don't think that's the way the world gets better. It just prevents the worst from happening and the UN's goal was to prevent World War III and the nuclear holocaust.”

In the end, however, the ties to Ģ����ý brought him home, their daughter had a chronic illness, and Jaques’ father’s health began to deteriorate, so, in 2004, he returned to the university and his old job.

“I had this in the back of my mind that the UN job would be my penultimate job, that I would have another position after the UN job and I would really feel like it was meaningful and gratifying,” recalled Jaques. “Coming back to my old job, I thought, ‘Okay, wow. That didn't turn out. Maybe the UN job was the peak of my career.’” 

As it turned out, Jaques’ next job would prove to be as satisfying as he’d hoped. Showing the innovation that has defined the Faculty of Social Work since its creation, then-dean , BSW'74, MSW'78, PhD, and , MA'70, PhD, called him up in 2007 and asked him if he would be interested in heading their unique Master of Social Work specialization in International and Community Development. 

“To me that was the ultimate,” said Jaques. “Personally gratifying, professionally and intellectually challenging. An amazing group of graduate students that I've primarily worked with over the years, as well as some undergrads. A group of colleagues I really think will be lifelong friends, including lots of graduates as well. For me, it's been a real high."