Gérard Duhaime is a visionary and an innovator whose drive to find ways to improve life in northern communities has made him one of the world’s leading social scientists. His work to describe, analyze, and understand living conditions in the North – to show life there as it is, rather than as it is perceived to be – has changed the way northern socio-economic research is done. Dr. Duhaime has developed tools for crafting social policies adapted to northern realities, and this has been invaluable for those working to improve northern social conditions, from indigenous organizations to governments and international bodies.

A professor at Laval University since 1988, Dr. Duhaime pioneered a multidisciplinary approach that allows researchers to look at a problem from many angles, taking into account the complex factors that contribute to socioeconomic conditions. By using quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously, Dr. Duhaime has been able to measure the economy of the entire circumpolar Arctic, and compare the economies of the many regions and communities that lie within it.