Elsa Leo-Rhynie
Elsa Leo-Rhynie has devoted her life’s work to service and research in the fields of education, gender issues and training. She was appointed Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology at the School of Education at The UWI, Mona Campus (1977–1987) and served as Executive Director of the Institute of Management and Production (1987–1992). She was Regional Coordinator of the Centre for Gender and Development Studies (1992–1996) and is recognized as the first female to become both Deputy Principal (1996-2002) and Principal (2006-2007) at The UWI. She became Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Undergraduate Studies (2002); served as a member of the Council of the University of Technology; was named chair of the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust (which focuses on improving early childhood education); was appointed a Director of the GraceKennedy Foundation (1999); was appointed co-chair of the National Preparatory Commission (1993–1994) (responsible for producing Jamaica’s Report on the Status of Women for the 4th World Conference on Women, Beijing, China); was appointed to the Privy Council of Jamaica (1996). Professor Leo-Rhynie was awarded the national honour of Commander of the Order of Distinction in 2000 and named Professor Emerita by The UWI following retirement in 2007.
