Maurice Dongier, MD, FRCPC, was recruited from the University of Marseille (France) in 1963 by the University of Liège (Belgium), and in 1971 by McGill University to the position of director of the Allan Memorial Institute and psychiatrist-in-chief of the Royal Victoria Hospital. He served as chairman of McGill University's Department of Psychiatry (1974-1985). Since 1985, he has developed the Alcohol Research Program at the Douglas Institute, recruiting a multidisciplinary team of researchers. Later he also served as director of the Clinical Research Division of the Douglas Institute Research Centre (1997-2002).

Maurice Dongier's fields of research were initially electroencephalography and event-related potentials of the brain as diagnostic instruments in psychiatry, and, within the past fifteen years, have grown to include treatments of alcoholism, both pharmacological and psychosocial.

He has published five books and more than 200 papers. His major interest recently has been the study of human consciousness, its altered states, its neural correlates and its philosophical and clinical implications. In May 2005, Maurice Dongier was awarded an Emeritus Professorship in health sciences by McGill University. This honour is accorded to outstanding retired professors who have been appointed by the board of governors on the recommendation of the senate.