René Durocher

René Durocher has been appointed executive director of the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) with responsibility for its overall management, liaison with the universities, program review and evaluation. Durocher is a history professor and researcher at the Univ of Montreal, where he also served as vice-dean of arts and sciences, as well as associate VP research between 1994 and 1999. A published author of six books, he is a member of the Royal Society of Canada and was president of the Institut de l'Amerique francaise and the Canadian Historical Society. Durocher will be supported in his CRCP duties by a secretariat led by Denis Croux, interim director of operations. Croux was most recently SSHRC's director of strategic programs and joint initiatives. Durocher was named to the post by Dr Marc Renaud, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) who was recently appointed as chair of the CRCP steering committee. The committee oversees the administrative aspects of the program and receives peer-reviewed recommendations on specific research chair appointments. The CRCP secretariat will be housed at SSHRC, although it is jointly administered by the three granting agencies and the Canada Foundation for Innovation....