First is a weighty word, heavy with expectation, possibility and responsibility. It alludes to power, sometimes trial, always hope. More than most, Dr Rhonda McEwen understands this, because on October 12, 2022, she was installed as the first black, female President and Vice Chancellor of Victoria University at the University of Toronto, Canada.
The child of teachers and a former student of St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph, Dr McEwen began her academic life at UWI in 1991 as a science student planning to pursue chemistry and management. Until that is, she spent a year teaching Standard One students at St Theresa’s Girls’ RC School.
“Trying to explain the Gulf War to eight-year-old girls really started pulling on my interest in other things,” she says, “like global politics and how things got communicated around the world as they happen.” So, she swapped chemistry for sociology.
It was a big change that led to a very difficult first year, but her decision was a defining one. “The UWI degree gave me really great grounding,” Dr McEwen reflects.
She considers her lecturers during that time, among them the now Honourable Justice Gillian Lucky, Professor Patrick Watson, and Professor Rhoda Reddock.
With no background in business subjects or sociology, she had to work extra hard to catch up to her peers. She picked up quickly and within her first year, she became one of the first two students to double major in sociology and management. Her research focus was on the social impacts of technology.
One day, while visiting Prof Reddock’s office, she found herself challenged — Prof Reddock advised her to continue to graduate school and apply for a scholarship. Dr McEwen hadn’t thought that far ahead, but the bright light of possibility now danced in front of her. In 1994, Dr McEwen graduated from UWI with first class honours. She was also awarded the coveted Chevening Scholarship which allowed her to further her research interests. Those were the very early days of the Internet, and Dr McEwen, already recognising its vast potential, was intrigued.
“I was really interested in technology and how technologies affect people,” she said. So, she enrolled in City University’s Information Technology MBA. A few years later, she followed that degree with an MSc in Communications Engineering, and in 2007, a PhD in Information. “My PhD thesis was on mobile information systems and social networks,” she says, in other words, “how people build social networks on phones.” In 2008, the first iPhone was released.
Dr McEwen’s research interests, it seems, have always met technological advancements stride for stride.
“I’m driven by curiosity,” she says, another quality she attributes to her UWI education. “I think I learnt somewhere deep in myself that it didn't really matter if I don't know all the things about something. If I am passionate and interested in [it], I should go for it.” So, into the world of research she dove and she’s continued to seek cutting-edge solutions ever since, earning her two terms as Canada Research Chair in Tactile Interfaces, Communication and Cognition.
While her current research interests are still in people and technology, they’ve shifted to emerging technology, and “technologies to support communities, schools, [and] children…who have autism or other related disorders.” This is why, when Sesame Workshop approached her to help inform a project on autism, she accepted. Her earlier research on apps and tablets designed for children on the spectrum put her on the Workshop’s radar and gave her the opportunity to consult on the creation of the first autistic muppet to live on Sesame Street.
Virtual Reality, robotics and artificial intelligence have also fallen under her proverbial microscope. She is particularly excited to share her current research being completed in collaboration with fellow UWI alumna, linguist, Dr Samantha Jackson. “We’re looking at how well these large language models like ChatGPT understand Trinidad English Creole and can [respond] to questions or anything posed of it,” Dr McEwen explains, sharing that this could provide serious benefits to young children just learning to read. “It’s the first time I've been able to incorporate something very specifically Trinidadian into my research on technology,” she says.
As President and Vice Chancellor, however, researcher is just one of the multiple roles Dr McEwen fills. She also deals with infrastructure issues, fundraising and outreach, and provides mentorship and support to students, faculty and staff. Dr McEwen recognises her responsibility as the first black woman to serve in such a prestigious role. “It is a big responsibility, but it's also quite an honour to be the first,” she says. Her legacy, she hopes, is to “build enough of a pathway so I’m definitely not the last. I really want to inspire others to push through and try. Prof Reddock’s little word of encouragement went a long way, and I hope to pay it forward.”
