MONROVIA: Associate Professor Dr. Josephus Moses Gray, Dean of Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities has won the prestigious: “Most Progressive Dean of Year Award” at the University of Liberia. The prestigious Progressive Dean’ of the Year 2021-2022 Award was bestowed upon the Amos C. Sawyer College’s Dean by the leadership of the 2021-2022 class of the institution for his visible and extraordinary contributions towards higher education, faculty capacity building, career development and several developmental initiatives.
Dr. Gray is the winner of this inaugural award which honors and recognizes Dean for demonstrates leadership, excellence interactions and guidance in working with students and faculty in the framework of outstanding creative and innovative activities as well as the new the trajectory of the College and the reintroduction of compulsory essay exams and thesis across the entire college.
Under his leadership, the Amos C. Sawyer College has propelled itself far above redemptive glamour and has prestigiously positioned on a new academic trajectory that establishes a profound unique collaboration and partnership with other sisterly globally recognized institutions of higher learning echelon and universities across the globe, particularly West Europe, United States of America, Asia, and West Africa, with North and South African in play.
Professor Gray is a native born Liberian, hails from the Southeastern village of Kayken, Barclayville District in Grand Kru County. He has achieved the highest level of academic mastery in his chosen academic field including a Ph.D. (distinction) in International Relations and diplomacy from the HELP-CEDS University in Paris, Republic of France and further holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication (Print Journalism) from the University of Liberia. He is also 2008 graduate of Chinese Foreign Affairs University in Beijing with advanced Diploma in Diplomacy while in 2006 through the sponsorship of Association of American Editors and ICFJ in Washington, D.C., USA, Dr. Gray spent several months in the USA and was assignment at the Savannah Morning Newspaper in Savannah, Georgia for two months and a week each at Washington Post, New York time and Associate Press on the International Journalism Exchange Program. He also holds dozen of diplomas and certificates in foreign policy studies, international relations, diplomacy, print journalism, development communication, research methodology, and Digital Communication from Paris, France; Genera, Switzerland; Beijing, China; Washington, D.C., USA; Cape Town, South Africa; Rabat, Morocco; Accra, Ghana; Dakar, Senegal And Monrovia, Liberia.
Besides the Deanship, he teaches International Relations specifically Decision-making in International Politics and Political Communication at the University of Liberia Graduate and Undergraduate programs. Dr. Gray previously served as senior Policy Advisory to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Liberia and worked in several strategic positions in both public and private sectors including Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, Assistant Foreign Minister for Public Affairs; Political Counselor at the Embassy of Liberia in Paris, France, and Charge D’ Affairs at Liberia Permanent Mission to the SWISS Federation and the United Nations in Genera, Switzerland. He has wildly written and published over 300 per-reviewed articles in local and international journals and three books; the most recent book being “Effect of Diplomacy: Liberia-US-China’s Triangular Relations, is on sale in 160 countries across the world. The book is reproduced in several languages including French, Italian, Chinese, and Spanish.
The distinguished graduates, 203rd Class described Dr. Gray as a highly accomplished Dean whose office doors are always opened to students and faculty. According to the students, Dr. Gray as a Dean understands student’s plight, kind, compassionate towards others and very accessible despite of his enormous workloads. The award was presented to Dr. Gray on Thursday, 14 March 2024 at the Conference Room of UL President by the Director of Protocol, Madam Dekontee Tubman on behalf of the leadership of the 2021-2022 Class.
Sawyer College is highly respected for our well-skilled, renowned, professional and trained faculty. The quality of faculty at the institution is the primary reason students choose to study here. We attract scholars at the cutting edge of their various fields including include publishers, authors, critical thinkers, educators, and scholars with a reservoir of knowledge in their chosen disciplines of social sciences and humanities.
Under the administration of Dr. Josephus Moses Gray, Dean of the Sawyer College, there are more full-time faculty members then part-time faculty members. For the four and half years Dr. Gray served as Dean of the college, about 125 faculty members have been fully employed while over 30 staffs have been employed. The Dean is much grateful to the President of UL, Dr. Nelson for said employment and support towards the college in its development and new trajectory.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to be selected from among 2000 faculty members at the University by distinguished graduates of this great institution, I’m personally devoted to hard work and development of faculty and staffs’. Under Dr. Gray’s guidance, the Amos C. Sawyer College has developed international reputation, broaden academic ties with other universities and colleges and with the support of the President of the University of Liberia, Prof. Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo Nelson, several students are studying abroad for master’s and doctorate studies in various disciplines.
The Unblemished Evidence of Landmark Achievements of Amos C. Sawyer College under the dynamic leadership of the Dean, Associate Prof. Josephus Moses Gray are highlighted below. These praiseworthy tangible achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our student-faculty centered President Prof. Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo. Nelson, Jr.
Under Dr. Gray’s leadership, Sawyer College has been successful in integrating research in all the degree granting departments, as a major requirement for completion. At Sawyer College, faculties pursue a full range of research interests related to their own academic disciplines. The college has harmonized the various academic departments’ curricula and introduced standardized research methodology course across the college. Students who successfully passed the research course are advanced for senior thesis writing or undertake a senior project as a special requirement to fulfill a-year Baccalaureate Degree Requirements to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree.
The graduates of the college are making tremendous contributions to societies across the international sphere with obvious outputs in numerous areas including national development. Some have risen to serve as president, vice president, Justices of the Supreme Court, of minister, senator, Representative, Ambassador, president of tertiary institutions, heads of public corporations, standard-bearers of political parties, academic directors, deans and media expertise.
Sawyer College has a proud history of providing courses that help communities to grow and flourish, this focus on combining practical knowledge with quality learning and teaching. Interestingly, it was the first to be established in the country with a well-defined and founding mission. The College remains driven by its commitment to societies and is dedicated to providing quality programs and degrees in a flexible and supportive environment.
The college was successful to harmonize the various academic departments’ curricula and successfully remodeled research methodology courses across the college to help sharpen the students’ skills and widen their horizons in research. The College also strives to be among the most innovative academic institutions in the world. Its remains committed to empowering its students with requisite knowledge and practical skills vital to achieving personal and professional success in the changing local and global communities in which they live, work and compete in the job market.
The College is accredited for producing a high number of ‘female-graduates’ in the university every convocation. Emphatically, it is the largest platform for women in the country with the highest percentage of girls at the University of Liberia. While females outpaced men at the 2021/2022 graduation held by the College during that school year, fortunately, the valedictorian of the class was a female (and out of the 114 graduates, 115 were females and 99 males, respectively). Out of 36 students who graduated with GPA of 3.00 and above, 19 graduates were female and 17 male graduates, wherein, female graduates accounted for over 60 percent of the total graduates from the College.
The college has been successful in integrating research in all the degree granting departments, as a major requirement for completion. At Sawyer College, faculties pursue a full range of research interests related to their own academic disciplines. The college has harmonized the various academic departments’ curricula and introduced standardized research methodology course across the college. Students who successfully passed the research course are advanced for senior thesis writing or undertake a senior project as a special requirement to fulfill a-year Baccalaureate Degree Requirements to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree.
The graduates of the college are making tremendous contributions to societies across the international sphere with obvious outputs in numerous areas including national development. Some have risen to serve as president, vice president, Justices of the Supreme Court, of minister, senator, Representative, Ambassador, president of tertiary institutions, heads of public corporations, standard-bearers of political parties, academic directors, deans and media expertise.
Sawyer College has a proud history of providing courses that help communities to grow and flourish, this focus on combining practical knowledge with quality learning and teaching. Interestingly, it was the first to be established in the country with a well-defined and founding mission. The College remains driven by its commitment to societies and is dedicated to providing quality programs and degrees in a flexible and supportive environment.
The College also strives to be among the most innovative academic institutions in the world. Its remains committed to empowering its students with requisite knowledge and practical skills vital to achieving personal and professional success in the changing local and global communities in which they live, work and compete in the job market. The College has propelled itself far above redemptive glamour, and has prestigiously positioned itself on a new academic trajectory that establishes a profound unique collaboration and partnership with other sophisticated sisterly and globally recognized institutions of higher learning- universities across the globe, particularly West Europe, United States of America, Asia, and West Africa, with North and South African included.
These achievements can not only be referred to as magnificent milestone, but by extension, described as a “great redemption” for the College, particularly the University and state specifically. Without an iota of doubts, the College can boost of numerous achievements despite of the severe and dreadful consequences of the Coronavirus Pandemic which weighed seriously on the global societies.
For the current academic year, Amos C. Sawyer College has 276 faculty members of which 242(88%) represents males and 34(12%) recorded for females. Out of the total 276 faculty, 121 (44%) represents Part-time faculty while 155(56%) recoded for Full-time faculty. Further, the faculty breakdown for the period under reviewed shows 62(22%) representing faculty with Bachelor’s degrees. While 199 (72%) recorded for faculty with Master’s degrees and 15 (6%) are doctorate degree holders. For the same period, the College offered 670 sections across the four campuses.
The mission and vision of Sawyer College are aligned with those of the University of Liberia. The College’s vision is to transform the way that the world is understood, how knowledge is created, and how problems, especially ones are approached and solved. The College was founded on an agenda of social responsibility to the Liberian Society and the world to provide educational access to the citizens and other nationals across the globe. The driving forces behind that agenda have become an integral part of the philosophy of the University of Liberia.
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