John Kirton is the director and founder of the Global Governance Program at the University of Toronto, which includes the G20, G7, and BRICS Research Groups, along with the Global Health Diplomacy Program. A professor emeritus of political science, he has taught Canadian foreign policy and global summit governance. Kirton has been a senior fellow at Trinity College and the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History and held appointments at institutions in China. He has led teams at every G20 summit since 2008 and every G7 summit since 1988.