Ambassador Kenneth D. Taylor joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1959. His assignments included Guatemala, Detroit, Pakistan, London, Ottawa, Tehran, and New York. He resigned from the diplomatic service in 1984 to join Nabisco Brands/RJR Nabisco as senior vice president international. He formulated and implemented polices to strengthen the $21 billion company's international presence. Following change of control of the company in 1989, he has served either in an advisory capacity or as a director for a number of companies both in Canada and abroad. On return from his posting in Iran as Canadian ambassador during the revolution, he received the United States Congressional Gold Medal, The Order of Canada, and the key to the city of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Dallas. He served as chancellor of Victoria University in The University of Toronto from 1998 to 2004. Taylor received a B.A. from the University of Toronto (Victoria) and an M.B.A. from the University of California Berkeley.