The Council of the University of the West Indies, meeting in Extraordinary session on Thursday, November 9th at the Mona Campus, decided to appoint His Excellency, Professor Gordon Valentine Shirley, as Principal of the Mona Campus in Jamaica, effective August 1, 2007 for an initial period of five years, succeeding Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie. Professor Shirley, who is currently Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States of America, is no stranger to the University of the West Indies as he was Head of the Department of Management Studies from 1991 to 1997 and subsequently, Executive Director of the UWI Mona School of Business.

The position of Principal, Mona will become vacant upon the retirement of the incumbent, Professor Leo-Rhynie in 2007, and it was therefore necessary to initiate the search for a replacement. Accordingly, the post was widely advertised and an Advisory Committee convened to consider and make recommendations from among the 60 applicants from all over the world. Eight candidates were short-listed and interviewed and after a further short-listing of three candidates, including Professor Shirley, the Advisory Committee decided to recommend to Council the appointment of Professor Shirley.

Council took cognizance of the leading candidate’s experience, his commitment to regional development and to the University of the West Indies in particular. His stated vision for the campus and the University and his creative ideas for ensuring the future growth of the campus were also taken into account.

Professor Gordon Shirley started his professional career with Alcan Jamaica Company Limited as a Mechanical Engineer in the mid to late 1970s after completing his BSc in Engineering at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad. On completing his doctorate in Business Administration and Operations Management at Harvard University, he took an assignment as Assistant Professor at the University of California from 1987 to 1991. He then returned to Jamaica and has been the Carlton Alexander Professor of Management at the Mona Campus since 1991, serving as Head of the Department of Management Studies and Executive Director of the Mona Institute of Business. He also served concurrently as Executive Chairman of the Jamaica Public Service from 1997 to 2001. Professor Shirley was seconded to the Government of Jamaica and is currently Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States of America and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States.
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