Excellence and the pursuit of success were engrained in Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith from a very early age while growing up in Georgetown, Guyana.
Professor Griffith, who will assume office on June 14, 2016 as the 10th vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, created history as the first person to graduate with Distinction in Political Science in 1980 from the same university.
Griffith’s outstanding achievement as a scholar, academic leader and teacher is a testament to his long and brilliant academic career.
On June 21, 2013 the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, voted unanimously in naming Dr. Griffith as the ninth president of Fort Valle State University. But despite his short stint, Griffith left an indelible mark on the landscape of the Valle campus.
Dr. Griffith, a New Yorker, served as professor of political science, provost and senior vice president of York College of The City University of New York, where he improved the faculty by 30 percent over four years, by re-organizing the academic division into three schools.
An intellectual whose magnificent career has changed the lives of thousands over the years, Griffith, the current executive-in-residence at the University at Albany, State University of New York, was selected to serve at UG, after an extensive national, regional and international search, and based on a series of lectures, credentials, and an interview by the Search Committee appointed by Council.
Professor Griffith views his appointment as, “returning to the place where his academic journey began” and as an opportunity to make a significant contribution to his homeland.”
He added, “Guyana’s sole national institution of higher learning is a long-neglected educational enterprise that must be transformed into a meaningful facilitator of educational and economic development — for citizens and society.”
“It must foster dreaming and doing about changing personal and societal realities, and enable discovery in all relevant fields.” Professor Griffith considers the university “a pillar of the nation’s economic and social development” and he looks forward to working with governmental, alumni, business, civic, and other stakeholders to enable it to provide a platform to explore myriad opportunities and be a stimulus for innovation.”
Professor Griffith, a consultant to Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, USAID, and other agencies, has testified before the United States Congress on Caribbean security issues. He has also served as a consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat.
He is the past president of the Caribbean Studies Association, and has been a visiting scholar at the William Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense studies in Washington DC, the Royal Military College of Canada, and the George Marshall European Center for Security studies in Germany
Committed to giving back, Professor Griffith has served on the National Steering Committee of the AASCU’S Red Balloon Project and Briefly as convener of its Provosts of Color Caucus, and has served on the vestry (Board of Ambassador Program and Education Committee.
Professor Griffith considers the University of Guyana “a pillar of the nation’s economic and social development” and he looks forward to working with governmental, alumni, business, civic, and other stakeholders to enable it to provide a platform to explore myriad opportunities and a stimulus for innovation.
Professor Griffith who has gained international recognition in Caribbean and hemispheric security, drugs and crime, as one of the leading scholars in those fields, has published seven books and more than 50 academic and policy articles, and has been quoted in numerous media including the New York Times, BBC World Service, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Jamaica Gleaner and Barbados Nation newspaper.
Chancellor Nigel Harris said, “the University of Guyana welcomes Professor Ivelaw Griffith whose scholarly achievements and leadership experience are well suited to the central role he must play in transforming the institution.”
The Guyanese community would like to congratulate Professor Griffith on this outstanding achievement and wishes him every success when he takes up this new portfolio.
