John Chaich serves as the director of strategic communications for the American Federation of Aging Research (AFAR) in New York, NY. AFAR is a non-profit organization with the goal of furthering scientific research into the biology of aging and supporting the doctors and scientists conducting this research. With a major in communications from Hiram College, Chaich is responsible for coordinating AFAR’s current messaging and design through its website, social media, and events as well as planning the organization’s long-term communications strategy.

Outside of AFAR, Chaich also works as an independent art curator to identify individual and groups of artists in order to showcase their work. He has taken his curated exhibitions on the road, and they have been featured by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Artforum International Magazine. Chaich is responsible for a wide range of duties, including researching and meeting artists, designing the layouts of the exhibitions, and writing the promotional materials.

On top of it all, he also teaches as a visiting faculty member in the communications design program at Pratt Institute, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree. Chaich feels that Hiram’s Writing Across the Curriculum program, ensuring the students write well and critically throughout their studies, had a significant impact on his communications skills. In addition, Hiram’s interdisciplinary approach—encouraging students to gain a wide breath of knowledge across the areas of study—prepared him for the multiple roles in his life. “The liberal arts encourages you to look for interdisciplinary resources and relationships,” says Chaich. “This has allowed me to navigate health, science, and visual art with some fluency.”