Professor Paula Morgan has been appointed the new university director of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGD), succeeding Professor Opal Palmer Adisa, who held the post since 2017.

According to The University of the West Indies (UWI), the appointment took effect August 1.

Morgan is a long-serving member of The UWI in several capacities including teaching, curriculum development, programme coordination, public service, research and university administration.

She first joined The UWI in 1981 as a part-time teaching assistant. In 1990, she became an assistant lecturer in the Department of Liberal Arts at the St Augustine Campus.

Morgan also served as a curriculum development specialist at the Distance Education Centre between 1997 and 1998
and the deputy dean for Distance and Outreach between 1999 and 2000.

During the period 1999 to 2007, she was a coordinator and lecturer in Literatures in English and a coordinator of the Cultural Studies Graduate Programme between 2007 and 2011. In 2012, she went on to become a coordinator in Literatures in English until 2015, and thereafter headed the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the St Augustine Campus from 2016 to 2017.

In 2016, she was also promoted to Professor of West Indian Literature and Culture. Prior to her appointment as university director at the IGDS, she served as head of the Department of Literary Cultural and Communication Studies, since 2020.

According to The UWI, Morgan has an impressive publication output including single and jointly authored books and
edited book and journal collections, journal articles, book chapters, and instructional texts. Her publications span three decades and range from the areas of pedagogical approaches to Caribbean literature and culture, societal trauma and gender violence, and representations of disability in Caribbean discourse.

In addition to her publications, Morgan has several professional and community affiliations and has served the public in numerous capacities. These include chair of the Trinidad and Tobago Selection of Scholarships Committee, secretary for the Network for Outreach and Disabilities Sensitization and Education (NODES), and Member of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action.

Morgan is also the recipient of several awards for teaching, publication and graduate mentorship. .