Derek Burney was a Canadian diplomat, who served as Ambassador to the Republic of South Korea (1978-1980) and Ambassador to the United States (1989-1993), and was instrumental in negotiations of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Burney was born in Fort William in 1939, and received a BA and MA from Queen’s University in Kingston. He served in the federal public service from 1963 to 1993: including diplomatic work, ambassadorial postings, and as Canada’s first Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (1987-1989), working with Brian Mulroney.

After retirement from public service, Burney worked for Bell Canada, 1993-1999, and sat on the boards of several other corporations. He returned to federal government work leading Stephen Harper’s transition team in 2006.

Burney served as Chancellor of Lakehead University from 2013 to 2017. He also received an Honourary Doctor of Laws from Lakehead in 1990, as well as honourary degrees from Queen's, Carleton, and Wilfrid Laurier Universities.

Most of the records in this fonds relate to Burney’s career with the Department of External Affairs. There is also a small amount of material relating to work in private business, and other writings and memorabilia.