Samantha Nutt is an award-winning humanitarian, bestselling author and acclaimed public speaker. A medical doctor and the Founder and President of the renowned humanitarian organizations War Child Canada and War Child USA, Dr. Nutt has worked with children and their families at the frontline of many of the world’s major crises – from Iraq to Afghanistan, Somalia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone to Darfur, Sudan. A leading authority on public health, war, international aid and foreign policy, Dr. Nutt is one of the most intrepid and recognized voices in the humanitarian arena and a highly sought-after public speaker in North America. With a career that has spanned more than two decades and dozens of conflict zones, her international work has benefited millions of war-affected children globally.
Dr. Nutt is a respected authority for many of North America’s leading media outlets. She is a regular foreign affairs panelist on the acclaimed news program, CBC TV NEWS “The National”, and a contributor to NowThis News. Nutt’s written work has been published by TED Ideas, Reuters, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Star, Maclean’s Magazine, The Ottawa Citizen, The Huffington Post, and other publications. She has appeared in AP News, Forbes, Town & Country Magazine, Time Magazine, More Magazine and on NBC Nightly News, BBC World News Service, America’s Radio News Network, NPR, CTV Power Play, CTV National News, Global TV News, and CBC Radio, to name just a few. Dr. Nutt spoke at TED Talks Live “War & Peace” at The Town Hall Theater in New York, which aired on PBS. Dr. Nutt’s TED Talk, on the deadly impact of small arms, has garnered over a million views on TED.com.
Dr. Nutt’s critically acclaimed debut book, entitled Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid, was released by McClelland and Stewart Ltd. (a division of Random House) and was a #1 national bestseller in both hardcover and paperback. Lewis Lapham declared it a “brave and necessary book”, while the Literary Review of Canada called it a “brilliant polemic.” Damned Nations is a bracing and uncompromising account of Dr. Nutt’s work in some of the most devastated regions of the world. The new edition of Damned Nations was released in November 2018 in Canada and the U.S.A. by Penguin Random House.
Dr. Nutt has been appointed to the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour, for her contributions to improving the plight of young people in the world’s worst conflict zones. She has also been appointed to the Order of Ontario and has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Time Magazine has featured Dr. Nutt as one of Canada’s Five Leading Activists and she has been awarded the prestigious Loyola Medal by Concordia University.
Samantha Nutt graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University, earned an M.Sc in Public Health with distinction from the University of London and holds a Fellowship in Community Medicine (FRCPC) from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is further certified by the College of Family Practice and completed a sub-specialization in women’s health through the University of Toronto as a Women’s Health Scholar. Dr. Nutt is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates from universities in Canada and the U.S.A.
Dr. Nutt is a staff physician at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto and is a former board member of the David Suzuki Foundation.
