Professor Gordon Shirley was appointed Principal of the UWI Mona Campus with effect from August 1, 2007. This appointment follows a distinguished career as a diplomat, an educator and an administrator in higher education. He joined the staff of the UWI in 1991 as the Carlton Alexander Professor of Management and Head of the Department of Management Studies, and was appointed Executive Director of the Mona School of Business in 2001. Professor Shirley also served concurrently as Executive Chairman of the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited from 1997–2001. In 2004 he was seconded to the Government of Jamaica as Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States of America and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).

Professor Shirley is a graduate of the UWI, St. Augustine Campus, from where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering in 1977. He went on to pursue graduate studies at Harvard University in the USA, where he received his Master of Business Administration (Hons.) in Operations and Finance in 1982, followed by his Doctorate in Business Administration in Operations Management in 1987.

Professor Shirley began his professional career with Alcan Jamaica Company Limited as a Mechanical Engineer in the late 1970s to early 1980s. After completing his doctorate in 1987 he served as Assistant Professor of Operations Management at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) until 1991 when he returned to Jamaica.

During his tenure as Executive Director of the Mona School of Business Professor Shirley proved to be an outstanding administrator. He managed the transformation of the Mona School of Business into a profitable, self-sustainable institution, with endowments for Research and Entrepreneurial Studies. He successfully increased enrollment in the School of Business’ graduate programmes, while faced with increased competition from a growing number of international universities offering similar degree programmes in the island. At the time of his secondment in 2004 enrollment stood at approximately 350 graduate students.

As Ambassador to the United States of America and Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the OAS, Professor Shirley managed the bilateral relationships between Jamaica and the United States. He served as the primary interface between Jamaica and the Office of the President, the Departments of Government and the Congress. His other duties included representing Jamaica at the Summit of the Americas, in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, and at the OAS General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.

He has also chaired the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development, the arm of the OAS responsible for the funding of development activities and for the Award of OAS Scholarships.

Professor Shirley has published widely in the areas of Manufacturing and Operations Management and Computer Based Management Information Systems.

As Professor Shirley takes up office he will be responsible for operationalising the new UWI Strategic Plan 2007-2012, which will include developments such as a Western Jamaica Campus and other initiatives aimed at consolidating the quality and scope of the University of the West Indies’ contribution to higher education.