The UWI St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad & Tobago. Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - The University of the West Indies (The UWI) St. Augustine Campus is pleased to announce Professor Raphael Heffron as the new Dean of the Faculty of Law. His four-year term came into effect on November 1, 2021.
Professor Heffron was formerly Professor for Global Energy Law & Sustainability at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law & Policy at the University of Dundee. He is also a Jean Monnet Professor in the Just Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy awarded by the European Commission (2019-2022). In 2020, he was appointed as Senior Counsel at Janson law firm in Brussels (Belgium). His work has a principal focus on achieving a just transition to a low-carbon economy, and combines a mix of energy law, policy, and economics. He has published over 150 publications on various subject areas and is the most cited scholar in his field worldwide (1680+Scopus), with translated work in multiple languages including Chinese. Professor Heffron has given over 155 keynote or guest lectures in 51 countries worldwide.
The new Law Dean’s energy research has involved funding from UK national research councils (the ESRC and the EPSRC), the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (ERA-ACTOM), the British Academy and currently through the European Commission Jean Monnet Professorship 2019-2022. He has given expert advice on energy law and policy issues (low-carbon energy and electricity systems) to the EU, UN, Commonwealth Secretariat, World Bank, and various international think tanks and he currently serves on the UNECE Group of Experts on Cleaner Electricity Systems. More recently, Professor Heffron has worked on low carbon energy projects for the 10 Member States of the ASEAN Center for Energy (2021); produced policy reports on the energy transition and energy finance for the 54 Member States of the Commonwealth (2021), advised Nigerian Ministries on oil and gas (2019), law and Colombian professionals on climate and green finance (2019 & 2021).
Elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland in 2018, his research and teaching have been recognised by the award of a Jean Monnet Professorship by the European Commission twice—2016 (-2019) and 2019 (-2022). His teaching has also been recognised in the UK by becoming a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy in 2018. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Among his other involvements, Professor Heffron is a reviewer for the current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report. He is also the Consulting Editor of the current Halsbury’s Laws of England volumes on Energy Law (the leading practitioner energy law series). He is co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford University Press Handbook for International Energy Law and Editor-in-Chief of the Edinburgh University Press Journal Global Energy Law & Sustainability. The Professor is also on the Editorial Board of the International Energy Law Review, the Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review and law, energy law and energy policy journals in Russia, India, and Indonesia.
Professor Heffron is currently or has been in the past the following positions: the Co-Chair of the UK Energy Law and Policy Association; Visiting Professor in Energy Law at the International Hellenic University (Greece); an Associate Researcher at the Energy Policy Research Group at the University of Cambridge (current); a Visiting Professor at Paris-Dauphine University (Paris, France – current), Queen Mary University of London (UK – current), Javeriana University (Colombia), University of Western Australia (current), University Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique – current), University of Brawijaja (Indonesia– current); the ESCP Business School (Paris & London); and a Visiting Scholar at MIT (US), University of Sydney (Australia), the University of Texas at Austin (US) and the British Institute for International and Comparative Law (UK).
He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge (MPhil-Darwin, PhD-Trinity Hall), the University of Oxford (Christ Church-MSc) the University of St. Andrews (MLitt), and Trinity College Dublin (BA, MA). He is also a trained Barrister-at-Law and was called to the Bar in July 2007 in Ireland.
Professor Heffron succeeds Dr. Arif Bulkan, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Law. The Campus recognises, and is grateful for his contributions.
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Photo caption: Professor Raphael Heffron, newly appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law at The UWI, St Augustine Campus
About The University of the West Indies
The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.
From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
The UWI offers over 800 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 Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.
The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%.
The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old). The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.
For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
