The Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Tuesday, August 25, 2026—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Global Campus is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Darren Leon as Deputy Chief Financial Officer, effective August 1, 2026.
He previously served as Finance Manager, Treasury and Risk Management, in the Office of Finance from October 12, 2020. He brings more than 20 years of diverse experience spanning financial management; financial and management accounting; treasury and risk management; retail operations; hedge fund accounting and merchant banking and financial control, with a demonstrated record of delivering financial and operational objectives across local and international markets.
Prior to joining The UWI Global Campus, Mr. Leon was Financial Controller at Rentokil Initial (Trinidad) Limited, a subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based Rentokil Initial Group (FTSE100). In that role, he helped drive revenue growth, profitability and cash-flow performance for the Trinidad and Tobago business while ensuring effective risk management, regulatory compliance and alignment with local legislation and Group standards.
His career also includes senior finance leadership positions with ANSA Merchant Bank (Trinidad), BML Do It Best Corp. (Turks and Caicos), and Citi Hedge Fund Services, Citigroup (Bermuda). These roles provided broad exposure to financial operations, control environments and business performance in varied regulatory and commercial settings.
A Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) since 2011, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago (ICATT), Mr. Leon’s expertise includes financial strategy, treasury management, risk oversight, governance, performance and change management.
Mr. Leon has previously served as Acting Chief Financial Officer for The UWI Global Campus from January to March 2024 and for the Academic Year, August 2025 to July 2026. These assignments demonstrated his readiness to provide executive financial leadership, support effective governance and guide decision-making during periods of transition. He also contributes to professional development as a guest tutor for Financial Management CPD courses and as a facilitator of executive-level workshops.
Mr. Leon led the design, development and automation of an aged-student-debt dunning and collections solution, successfully delivering its Go Live on July 31, 2026. The initiative is expected to reduce aged-debt balances, improve collections performance and help reverse the trend of rising Expected Credit Loss provisions experienced by the Campus over the previous three years, with potential benefits including recovery of long-outstanding debt and resulting income-statement write-backs, subject to accounting assessment and collection outcomes.
In his new role, Mr. Leon will contribute to the continued strengthening of the Campus’ financial management, governance and strategic decision-making, while supporting the achievement of its institutional priorities. “This promotion is hard-earned and merited” says Dr Francis O. Severin, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. “Mr. Leon has been a boon to the Global Campus and its predecessor the Open Campus. He has demonstrated that treasury and risk management are not theoretical or hypothetical concepts, but are instead real life circumstances which he has had to manage and address every day, and has done so with authority, confidence, composure and self-assurance. He is a blend of authentic meticulous financial expertise and optimal emotional intelligence. He is also an excellent teammate.”
The UWI Global Campus Senior Management Team congratulates Mr. Leon on his appointment and looks forward to his continued contribution to the financial leadership and development of the Campus.
Mr Darren Leon, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of The UWI Global Campus
About The University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has played a crucial role in Caribbean development for over 75 years, consistently contributing to the improvement of the well-being of people across the region.
Established in 1948 as a university college of London in Jamaica, with just 33 medical students, UWI has grown into an internationally respected, global university with nearly 50,000 students. Today, it boasts five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and its Global Campus, along with international centres in partnership with universities across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The UWI offers over 1000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the leading university in the Caribbean, it is home to the largest pool of intellect and expertise in the region, dedicated to addressing the critical issues facing both the Caribbean and the wider world.
Validated by its inclusion in the Times Higher Education (THE) annual rankings since 2018, The UWI has affirmed its position as one of the top universities globally. It stands out as the only English-speaking institution in the Caribbean featured in four of THE's prestigious ranking lists. The World University Rankings evaluate over 2,000 research-focused universities worldwide, while the Golden Age University Rankings highlight institutions established between 50 and 80 years ago. The Latin America Rankings focus specifically on universities within Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, the Impact Rankings assess universities based on their contributions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This recognition has also springboarded the establishment of The UWI’s International School for Development Justice (ISD), a global online graduate business school aimed at preparing future leaders for sustainable development.
The UWI is an SDG-engaged university consistently recognised among the best in the world. Discover more at www.uwi.edu.
