Shipping Association of Jamaica vice-president launches professorial chair at Caribbean Maritime University

A new professorial chair has been established at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) in honour of Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) vice-president and Chief Executive Officer of Kingston Wharves Limited (KWL), Dr Grantley Stephenson. The professorial chair was officially launched at a ceremony at the corporate headquarters of KWL in Newport West, St Andrew, recently.

The chair will be held jointly by CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock and CMU Deputy President Professor Ibrahim Ajagunna – two of the foremost researchers in logistics and port management in the region. It is a designation that is officially titled the Dr Grantley Stephenson Professional Chair of Logistics and Port Management. It will see both professors conducting research projects, lending their considerable expertise to providing strategic and leadership support for the KWL during the engagement, and is scheduled to last from May 2019 to April 2021 and is open to being renewed.

Commenting on the rationale behind the launch of the professorial chair, the SAJ VP said “we firmly believe that any move we make to develop Jamaica as a logistics hub must be underpinned and guided by research and empirical data that will inform how we build”. Dr Stephenson also praised the CMU, and Professor Pinnock in particular, for working to deepen understanding and helping to drive exploration of the wealth of opportunities in the sector.

Minister Ruel Reid noted that, “over the years, KWL has invested millions of US dollars in new port equipment and facilities in a continuing upgrade of operations here [at KWL]”. He added that “as Jamaica positions itself to become a major logistics and trans-shipment hub to increase the volume of business that passes through our ports annually, the latest tripartite collaboration between KWL, Caribbean Maritime University and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is a major step towards achieving this goal”.

For his part, Professor Pinnock observed that “logistics and port management represent critical aspects not just of the Jamaican economy, but, indeed, the regional economy, and the CMU is impressed by the bold step taken by KWL, under the leadership of Dr Stephenson, to support research in this area.”

Professors Pinnock and Ajagunna have written and published over 50 industry-related peer reviews and international journal articles in multiple languages, including French, Spanish, German and Mandarin.