Dr Holger Henke has been appointed as the director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus on Monday (February 6).

Dr Henke holds an MA in Political Science, with a double minor in Modern German Literature and Communications Sciences which he earned from the Geschwister-Scholl-Institute for Political Science at Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany. 

His PhD in Government was completed at The UWI, Mona, under the guidance of Dr Jessica Byron and the late Dr Herb Addo.

In 2014, Dr Henke completed a course of study at the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education (MLE) at Harvard University.

In the previous year, Henke earned a Fulbright US-UK International Education Administrators Award. In 2010, he was bestowed a Certificate of Honorary Jamaican Citizenship by the Consulate General of Jamaica in New York for “outstanding contribution and exemplary service to the Caribbean American and wider community of New York”, having served the Caribbean Studies Association in the leadership roles of vice-president, president and immediate past president.

He also completed a fellowship with the prestigious Salzburg Global Seminar in 1996.

Working in the United States, Henke was first affiliated with the Caribbean Research Center at Medgar Evers College (CUNY).

He then accepted a full-time faculty position in the Human Services programme at Metropolitan College of New York and subsequently transitioned to senior academic administration in the role of Assistant Provost of York College (CUNY).

He then served as vice-chancellor of Academic Affairs & Provost at Wenzhou-Kean University in China.

During his tenure at Wenzhou-Kean University (2014-2018), its student body grew from 850 to 1,950 and the number of full-time faculty grew from 46 to 96.

The establishment and staffing of several new key offices such as Associate Deans for Business and Liberal Arts; Registrar; Center for Curriculum Scheduling and Planning; Graphic Design studio and iMac lab; biology and physics labs; MakerSpace; Language Learning Lab; Office for Research and Sponsored Programs and Counseling Office.

He also aided in the start of new academic programmes such as Applied Mathematics; Psychology; Graphic Design/Interactive Advertising; Management/Entrepreneurship option and Supply Chain and Information Management option and Architectural Studies.

Likewise, the implementation of other academic support structures and co-curricular initiatives which includes a scholarship reward programme; Student Research Day; Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series; Global Lecture Series which marked the significant administrative, programmatic, teaching and research infrastructure and capacity-building accomplishments of the university during that period.

In his role as director of SALISES, Mona, Henke is responsible for supporting the advancement of the Institute’s mission “to influence academic, public and policy debates by undertaking research and graduate teaching from a Caribbean perspective within a multi-disciplinary, small-country and comparative context.”

The SALISES family and wider UWI community warmly welcome Dr Henke and wish him success in his new role.