Elsa Ann Leo-Rhynie OJ (née Fairweather) is a retired

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n academic and university administrator who is a

professor emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of the

University of West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

(UWI). She is a former principal and pro-vice-chancellor of its

Mona, Jamaica Mona is a neighbourhood in southeastern Saint Andrew Parish, approximately eight kilometres from Kingston, Jamaica. A former sugarcane plantation, it is the site of a reservoir serving the city of Kingston and the main campus of the Universi ...

, campus.

Early life

Leo-Rhynie was born at the

Victoria Jubilee Hospital Victoria Jubilee Hospital (initially known as the Victoria Jubilee Lying-In Hospital) was founded in 1891 and opened to the public in 1892 in Kingston, Jamaica. The current facility, the largest maternity hospital in the English-speaking Caribb ...

in Kingston, Jamaica. She grew up in Saint Andrew, and attended the

St Andrew High School for Girls St Andrew High School (also known as St Andrew High School for Girls) is an all-girls high school in Saint Andrew, Jamaica. The school was founded on September 21, 1925. History 1925–1929 St Andrew High School was founded on September 21, 19 ...

. Leo-Rhynie completed her undergraduate education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), graduating with a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in botany and zoology. She later completed a graduate diploma in education and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in educational psychology from the same institution. Until 1977, she worked as a high school science teacher, spending periods at

Haverstock School Haverstock School (formerly Haverstock Comprehensive School), is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located on Haverstock Hill in Haverstock, London, England. It is opposite Chalk Farm Underground station, and bounded by Prince of W ...

(in England) and Meadowbrook High School (in Jamaica).

Academia

In 1977, Leo-Rhynie became a lecturer in educational psychology at the UWI School of Education. In 1987, she was appointed executive director of the Institute of Management and Production. She became the regional coordinator of the Centre for Gender and Development Studies in 1992, and in that capacity was co-author of the Jamaican report to the

Fourth World Conference on Women The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was the name given for a conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. At this conference, governments from around the ...

in 1995. Leo-Rhynie was appointed deputy principal of the Mona campus in 1996 and principal in 2006 – the first woman to have held both positions. She became pro-vice-chancellor and chair of undergraduate studies in 2002, and retired in 2007 as a professor emerita.Order Of Jamaica Awardee, Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie Tells Female Academics At UWI To Step Up To The Plate
''Jamaica Gleaner'', 20 October 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2017.

Honours

Leo-Rhynie was made a Commander of the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') ...

in 2000 and inducted into the Order of Jamaica in 2015. In 2013, UWI named a new residence hall in her honour, the Elsa Leo-Rhynie Hall. In July 2017, she was awarded the UWI Chancellor's Medal – the first woman to receive the honour and only the sixth recipient overall.Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie awarded Chancellor's Medal
'' Jamaica Observer'', 3 July 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo-Rhynie, Elsa University of the West Indies alumni Academic staff of the University of the West Indies People from Kingston, Jamaica Women psychologists Jamaican educators Jamaican academics Educational psychologists Jamaican women academics