I am pleased to announce that Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie has been appointed as interim Principal of The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, effective February 15, 2006 until July 31, 2007. Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie has had a distinguished career as an educator and as an administrator in higher education. She joined the University of the West Indies in 1977, first as Senior Research Fellow then as Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education and was promoted to Professor in November 1991. Professor Leo-Rhynie served as Executive Director of the Institute of Management and Production (IMP) from 1987 until 1992 when she re-joined the University of the West Indies as Professor and Regional Coordinator of the UWI’s Centre for Gender and Development Studies. In 1996, she was appointed Deputy Principal of the Mona Campus with overall responsibility for student-related matters and improving teaching, and in 2002, was appointed by the University Council, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Chair of the Board for Undergraduate Studies.

Professor Leo-Rhynie is a graduate of the UWI, graduating with a BSc in Natural Sciences in 1964 and a PhD in Educational Psychology in 1978. Her academic interests center on gender and education and she has published extensively on these subjects. Her publications include Gender: A Caribbean Multidisciplinary Perspective (edited together with Barbara Bailey and Christine Barrow) and Gender Mainstreaming in Education: A Reference Manual for Governments and Other Stakeholders prepared at the request of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Several of her papers and articles appear in journals and edited collections by other eminent Caribbean scholars. She has successfully supervised more than fifty students pursuing Masters and Doctoral degrees in the areas of education, gender and development. In addition, she has directed research and evaluation projects in education and has also successfully completed consultancy assignments across the Caribbean. She was appointed to the Privy Council of Jamaica in September 1996 and has served on numerous committees, task forces, charitable foundations and NGOs at the national, regional and international levels.

In 2000, the Government of Jamaica conferred upon her the Order of Distinction, Commander Class.

The University Council and Senate will appoint a joint Committee to conduct a search for a new Principal of the Mona campus. Mr. Joseph Pereira who has served with distinction as Deputy Principal of The University of the West Indies, Mona will continue in this post. A replacement for Professor Leo-Rhynie as Chair of the Board for Undergraduate Studies will be announced within the next few days.