Studying international business and having a background in the military are experiences upon which Ray Chepesiuk, commissioner of the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB), draws to implement efficiencies and bring business acumen to his position. A native of Thunder Bay, Ont., Chepesiuk left the northwestern region of the province after completing high school in 1969 to pursue a pharmacy degree at the University of Toronto. In 1991 he was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Hall of Fame for baseball.  He also completed the Regular Officer Training Plan and found himself stationed in West Germany, BC, Halifax, and Ottawa. Chepesiuk participated in a United Nations peacekeeping effort in the Middle East and was Secretary of the Middle East Medical Society. He retired as a captain. The Nobel prize of 1996 was given to all former UN peacekeepers.

“You learn discipline in the military and you find out what you can do,” says Chepesiuk. “You think to yourself that you can’t do anymore, but you can. I learned about persistence and just going for it. I also learned problem-solving, loyalty, and how to work with others.” When he returned to Canada he decided to take a hospital pharmacy position in Collingwood, Ont. Then he decided to pursue an international business program (marketing) at the University of South Carolina. The program offered language training, so Chepesiuk learned French and took an internship at the Compagnie Générale de Radiologie in Paris. “It was an experience where I learned about big business,” notes Chepesiuk.

Upon completing his business degree, he graduated into a recession without employment. Chepesiuk's solution was to return to Canada and operate a pharmacy franchise in Mississauga, Ont. “I decided I liked Toronto and came back with a degree and a wife,” remembers Chepesiuk, whose spouse was a fellow student in the international business program in the US.

After owning and managing a franchise pharmacy for a year, Chepesiuk was contemplating other career avenues. He saw an advertisement for a reviewer at the PAAB, the board that offers pre-clearance review for the advertising of health products including prescription drugs, directed to health professionals and direct-to-consumer. Chepesiuk applied for the position, and got the job.

“It was kind of a first,” explains Chepesiuk, noting the PAAB had no reviewers, just a commissioner, on staff in the early 1980s. “I had no idea what PAAB was about, but I ended up liking it.”

Chepesiuk was made Commissioner of the PAAB in 1999, and he currently has a staff of 15, with nine reviewers. Chepesiuk is a proponent of self-regulation and ethics in the pharmaceutical industry and sees PAAB’s role as advocating for high standards in drug advertising. “We are the mechanism for self-regulation,” says Chepesiuk. “We know it can work, and it has been working well.” He enjoys the opportunity to educate others. Being a continuous learner himself, he achieved a certificate in Medical Marketing from UCLA in 2008.

In other pursuits, he has been made an honorary member of the PMCQ golf committee by President Jadzia Ronald.

As CEO of the PAAB, Chepesiuk has maintained minimal turnover of his staff while doubling its size, an accomplishment with which he is pleased. “I am proud of the PAAB staff and appreciate their help in getting this recognition,” says Chepesiuk. He is especially proud of his wife Harriet and his three children, Caleb, Sarah, and Rachel.