The University of the West Indies has named Professor Andrew S. Downes as the new Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Planning and Development to replace Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, who was recently named Minister of Planning, Social and Economic Development and Gender Affairs in the Trinidad and Tobago Government. This announcement was made by UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris at last week’s round of University meetings held at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados.

In his new role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Downes will oversee the final year of implementation of the University’s 2007-2012 Strategic Plan and coordinate the construction of the 2012-2017 Plan.

Professor Downes, who was the Cave Hill Campus Coordinator for the UWI Strategic Plan 2007-2012, is a Professor of Economics and has been the Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the UWI Cave Hill Campus since 1994.
He served as University Director of the tri-campus SALISES unit from 2000 to 2008.

Professor Downes holds BSc and MSc degrees (Economics) from The UWI and a PhD (Economics) from the University of Manchester, UK. He is a recipient of several academic awards and has been a consultant for several regional and international organisations (Caribbean Development Bank, ILO, IDB, World Bank, UN, etc.) along with the Government of Barbados and several national organisations. His research interests include Labour/Human Resources Economics, Applied Econometrics and Development Economics and he is regarded as one of the region’s leading labour economists.

The University of the West Indies congratulates Professor Downes on his appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and welcomes him to the University’s executive management team.