Background
Copes, Parzival was born on January 22, 1924 in Nakusp, B.C., Canada. Son of Jan Coops and Elisabeth Catharina Coops-van Olst.
Copes, Parzival was born on January 22, 1924 in Nakusp, B.C., Canada. Son of Jan Coops and Elisabeth Catharina Coops-van Olst.
Bachelor, U. B.C., 1949; Master of Arts, U. B.C., 1950; Doctor of Philosophy, London School Economics, 1956; D of Military Science (honorary), Royal Roads Military College, Victoria, B.C., Canada, 1991; Doctor Philosophical (honorary), University Tromsö, Norway, 1993.
In 1942, he became active in 'underground' activities against the German occupation and in 1944 joined a Dutch resistance army unit. Later that year, he was arrested and spent time in prison and a penal labour camp Erika at Ommen. In April 1945, he escaped from a prison convoy and met up with the advancing Canadian Army, where he was employed in uniform as an interpreter.
After spending a year with the British military government in Germany, he returned to Canada, and enrolled at the University of British Columbia, where he also joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps in 1946. In 1949, he obtained a Commission. In the reserves, he served as Intelligence Officer with the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa and later as Commanding Officer (rank of Major)of 112 Manning Depot in St. John's.
He was awarded a Canadian Forces Decoration in 1963. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science in 1949 and a Master of Arts degree in economics in 1950 from the University of British Columbia. He earned his Ph.D. in economics in 1956 from the London School of Economics.
He has been awarded honorary doctorates by Royal Roads Military College in Victoria, by the University of Tromsø in Norway and by the Memorial University of Newfoundland. From 1953 to 1957, he was an economist and statistician with the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in Ottawa, where he was placed in charge of the Canadian Sickness Survey unit. In 1957, he was appointed Associate Professor—and subsequently Professor—at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Head of the Department of Economics.
In 1961, he proposed and helped create Memorial's Institute of Social and Economic Research and was its first Director of Economic Research. In 1964, he was appointed Professor in the Department of Economics and Commerce at Simon Fraser University, serving as founding Head of the department until 1969 and as Chairman from 1972 to 1975. In 1968, he introduced Canada's first Executive MBA program.
He organized the Centre for Canadian Studies, serving as Director from 1978 to 1985. From 1980 to 1994 he was founding Director of the Institute of Fisheries Analysis. In 1991, he was appointed Emeritus Professor.
He has served as President of the Canadian Regional Science Association, the Western Regional Science Association and the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization, and as Vice-President of the Social Science Federation of Canada and the Canadian Economics Association. In 1992 he was named a Foreign Fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
Lieutenant Canada Army, 1945-1946, 50-51. Member International Institute Fisheries Economics and Trade (Executive Committee 1982-1986, Distinguished Svc. award 1996), International Association for Study of Common Property, Canada Regional Science Association (president 1983-1985), Canada Economics Association (v.p.1972-1973), Association for Canada Studies, Western Regional Science Association (pres.1977-1978), Social Science Federation Canada (director, vice president 1979-1983), Canada Association University Teachers, International Arctic Science Committee.
Married Dina Gussekloo, May 1, 1946. Children: Raymond Alden, Michael Ian, Terence Franklin.