The three shortlisted Guyanese candidates for the vacant post of University of Guyana Vice-Chancellor are Professor Rory Fraser, Professor Stanford Griffith and Dr Ivelaw Griffith.
According to a source at the university, a fourth shortlisted candidate has withdrawn from consideration due to “personal issues.”
University Registrar Dr C Nigel Gravesande had told Stabroek News in a recent interview that 20 candidates had applied for the post and that four eminently qualified Guyanese were placed on a short list.
He had explained that each of the shortlisted candidates had been informed and arrangements were in place to have them present in Guyana during the second and third week of April to engage with the application process. The process includes a panel interview, presentation to the Academic Board, presentations to Berbice community and public lectures.
The first of these public lectures saw Prof Fraser addressing members of the university community on the “Role of the University of Guyana in the context of Guyana’s Socio-Economic and Political Development” last evening at the Education Lecture Theatre, Turkeyen campus.
This is Fraser’s second application for the post. He had been shortlisted in 2012, but it was Nigerian-born Professor Jacob Opadeyi who was unanimously selected at the end of that process.
Asked last evening why he has applied again, Fraser said it was a challenge for which he has spent his entire life preparing.
“This, for me, is a challenge that I’ve been waiting for over 30 years to meet. People keep shutting the door in my face… and I keep bouncing my head against it. I am here because everything I have done has led me to this. I have faced numerous challenges and I have conquered them. From the time I was in high school during this country’s independence period I knew that one of my jobs was to become a leader in this country and all I had to do is prepare myself for the opportunity.
The opportunity is here and I am prepared,” he said.
Fraser is a retired Professor of Forest Economics and Policy at Alabama A & M University.
He is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick, Canada, and Pennsylvania State University and has spent 34 of the last 42 years in the UK, Canada, Jamaica, and the USA either attending or teaching at universities and working in forestry related fields. Since September, 2009, he has worked on a number of projects related to the University of Guyana.
The lectures will continue with Dr Ivelaw Griffith scheduled to present on April 12th and Professor Stanford Griffith on April 14th.
