Jan. 15, 2009 – Dr. George F. Lord has joined the University of the Virgin Islands as Dean of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division. Dr. Lord comes to UVI from the University of Memphis in Tennessee, where he was a research associate professor and director of the Mid South Survey Research Center in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy. He has extensive administrative experience, including serving as a dean at Indiana University Northwest and at Grambling State University. Dr. Lord also has an extensive background in research. He was the director of Research, Assessment and Program Development for the Partners in Public Education in Memphis. He also has more than two decades of teaching experience.
As dean, Dr. Lord serves as the chief operating and chief academic officer of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. His responsibilities include hiring faculty, reviewing faculty performance, monitoring and overseeing changes in curriculum, and monitoring student progress.
Some of his goals include continuing to move the university forward and continuing to develop quality education for the people of the territory and the wider Caribbean. "One of the goals is to maintain the 'students first' philosophy," he said.
Dr. Lord holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Christopher Newport University.
Along with being a dean, he hopes to use his training in research and sociology to conduct research in the Virgin Islands. Topics such as education, tourism, the labor market and the economy are of interest to him.
Dr. Lord's main office is located in the Social Sciences Building on the St. Thomas campus. He will spend one day a week on St. Croix, where his office is located in the Evans Center. He may be reached at glord@uvi.edu or 693-1260.
