Guyanese scholar now president of Fort Valley State University

Dr Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, provost and senior vice president at York College of the City University of New York, has been

named as the ninth president of Fort Valley State University by the board of regents of the University System of Georgia. The board’s vote was unanimous, a release stated.

Griffith will assume his new post on July 22, according to board chairman “Dink” NeSmith. “Dr Griffith was the outstanding candidate,” said NeSmith. “He has this board’s full support to provide the leadership Fort Valley State University needs at this moment. We are excited about his presidency and delighted he will become the university’s next president. This is a great day for Fort Valley.”

Griffith has served as provost at York College since 2007 and during his tenure has increased the number of full-time faculty by 30 per cent, reorganised the academic division, and enhanced the research and scholarly climate by creating a Provost Lecture Series and a companion Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series, among other initiatives. Griffith also has established an undergraduate student research programme.

Before being named provost at York College, Griffith, in addition to his teaching duties as a tenured professor of political science, served as provost at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. He was budget dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida International University in Miami, as well as dean of the FIU Honours College.

Distinguished

Griffith is a specialist on Caribbean security, drugs, and crime. In this capacity, he has been a consultant to Canada’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ministry, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other organisations.

He also has spoken at military academies across the United States and in the Caribbean, and serves on the editorial board of the journal Security and Defence Studies Review, which is published by the Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies, in Washington, DC.

Griffith earned a bachelor of social sciences from the University of Guyana, a master of arts degree in political science and public administration from Long Island University, New York; and a master of philosophy and doctorate in political science from the City University of New York. He also is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s educational leadership programme.