The Canada Research Chairs Program (The Chairs) attracts and retains some of the worlds most accomplished and promising minds. Established in 2000 with a budget of $900 million, The Chairs mandate was to establish 2000 Research Chairs at Canadian Universities over a five-year period.

Although the Chairs program is very well recognized within research communities in Canada, the research and advances achieved by Chairs Researchers were virtually unknown to the general public. The Chairs felt a new approach was required.

Our task was to make research more relevant and interesting to students and graduates who may not have really understood or considered it as a future area of study and work. We had to put a face on research that was engaging and not elitist. Our goal was to have audiences see themselves in the stories of researchers who were their contemporaries.

To do this, the work had to be honest, memorable and arresting. The work had to instantly speak to the level of excellence in research that the Chairs represented and the role that folks just like the reader were playing in driving these standards. We made stars out of researchers by sharing their stories. Over a two week period, we traveled across the country to photograph and interview twenty-four researchers in their natural working environment. The exercise was a hugely successful one, as researchers aren't accustomed to this kind of attention.

The information campaign itself consisted of national print ads, posters and a variety of supporting collateral brochures and information materials. The program was very well received and interest in research is at an all-time high in Canadian Universities.