The University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park’s executive director: Gillian Marcelle, has decided not to accept another three year contract and will move to the private sector, UVI announced Tuesday.
The entity, called the UVI RTPark, was proposed and designed as a way of fostering a technology sector in the V.I. economy. A building to house potential clients was built on the St. Croix UVI campus. None of the clients, which it calls “tenants,” have offices at the RTPark, which, like the Economic Development Authority, gives out generous tax breaks in exchange for certain commitments from the recipients.
Marcelle took up the top spot at the beginning of 2015, taking over for David Zumwalt, who helped to usher the RTPark into existence. Her three-year term ended Dec. 21.
Marcelle will move into the private sector, according to UVI.
The university’s news release said the RTPark’s governing board will lead a national search working with professional bodies and other experts to identify a successor.
“We accepted the decision, and look forward to maintaining a relationship with Dr. Marcelle through her scholarly and research activities,” UVI President David Hall said.
Hall said he will give Marcelle what he called a “courtesy appointment” to let her continue her affiliation with the School of Business, and involve the university in research projects and grant applications.
Marcelle has reportedly agreed to stay on at the helm while it finds a new director and help with a seamless transition to a new administration.
The RTPark’s main building at the UVI campus was damaged in the hurricanes last fall. It has temporary offices in Christiansted. More information is online at www.uvirtpark.net. That link forwards to a page of the UVI website with information about the RTPark.
Marcelle has a faculty position with the UVI School of Business. She trained as an economist at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad, and the Kiel Institute of World Economics, Germany. She also earned an MBA at George Washington University and read for her doctorate in Science and Technology Policy at the Science Policy Research Unit a preeminent research institute based at Sussex University in the United Kingdom.
Before coming to UVI, Marcelle served as the head of the Centre for Science Technology and Innovation Indicators, a specialist research center, which is a project of the South African Human Sciences Research Council. She also held an appointment as a visiting research scholar at the Tata Centre for Technology and Design, a project of the MIT Energy Initiative, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
From 2008-2014, she was a tenured associate professor of strategy and innovation at the Wits Business School, and served as the assistant dean of postgraduate affairs for the faculty of commerce, law and management, Wits University, in Johannesburg, South Africa. In that role, she provided academic leadership for programs to develop research, management and policy making capacity in science technology and innovation, and she led the design and development of an interdisciplinary masters degree of management in innovation.
