Professor Aldrie Henry-Lee confirmed as The UWI’s new Pro Vice-Chancellor, Graduate Studies and Research starting August 1

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Aldrie Henry-Lee as the academy’s new Pro Vice-Chancellor, Graduate Studies and Research. This appointment was approved by the University Council at its annual business meeting on April 29.

Professor Henry-Lee succeeds Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine who has been confirmed as the new Principal of The UWI St. Augustine Campus. Both Professors will assume their new offices on August 1, 2022.

As the new Head of the Board of Graduate Studies and Research, Professor Henry-Lee will oversee its policy and operational plans for development and regulation. The portfolio includes the administration of the Board, funding, as well as monitoring and evaluation of graduate education and research throughout the regional UWI system. In addition, the Pro Vice-Chancellor also has oversight of the implementation of the University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship agenda, positioned as a key contributor to The UWI’s new financial model under its ‘Revenue Revolution’ strategy.

Professor Henry-Lee joined The UWI in 1995. She became Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the Mona Campus in 2016, and currently serves as University Director of the Institute. She has held this office since 2018, and made history as its first female University Director. She is also the ‘One UWI’ Gender Equity and Justice Coordinator.

A Sociologist by profession, Professor Henry-Lee has researched and published extensively on social policy issues in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Her considerable research portfolio focuses on public policy, poverty, gender, human rights and childhood and her work has been funded by several notable agencies. These include the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department for International Development (DFID), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.

The recipient of the 2019/2020 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for ‘All-round Excellence’, Professor Henry-Lee has also earned a Principal’s Distinguished Researcher Award in 2003 from The UWI Mona Campus and in 2017, she led the two teams that received the awards for the project with the most developmental impact and the project with the most funds in the Faculty of Social Sciences. She has published eight books and short monographs; five edited special journal issues; 35 peer-reviewed book chapters and articles; made over 70 conference presentations and completed some 30 technical reports. Professor Henry-Lee has taught several courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her teaching excellence earned her the UWI/Guardian Group Premium Teaching Award in 2010, and she maintains that excellent standard to date.

For the past 16 years, Professor Henry-Lee has chaired the regional Caribbean Child Research conference which facilitates an equal voice for adult and child researchers. In 2015, the conference produced a policy document with recommendations for the Prime Minister of Jamaica.

In addition to her academic responsibilities at The UWI, she has served on several committees and boards including the Advisory Board of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency, the Human Employment and Resource Training /National Service Training Agency Trust (HEART/NSTA), and St. Michael’s Theological College. She is President-Designate of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston and a Sunday School Teacher at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Kingston, Jamaica.