Dr. Victor Chang, KC Old Boy, University professor and administrator has passed on.
He attended KC and was a member of the 1961-2 sixth form. He taught at the school for several years after graduating.
According to the Gleaner he was a “much-loved and highly respected teacher, Dr Chang was known in the department and throughout the university for his kindness and devotion to students, and for the efficiency and competence he brought to the many and varied administrative roles which he performed at the university.”
Chang was considered a rare academic willing to undertake administrative duties in addition to his teaching responsibilities. He served as head, department of literatures in English, 1991-1997 and deputy dean, 1995-2002. He also served on countless committees during his tenure, and at various periods sat on high-level bodies within the university, such as the university council, campus council, senate, academic board, and finance and general purposes committee.
The UWI website states that he made an important contribution to the body of scholarly work on West Indian literature having published a number of essays, articles and book chapters on the subject. And he was a major force behind the continued publication of the highly regarded Journal of West Indian Literature (JWIL), the primary outlet for academics writing on Caribbean literature.
He worked with JWIL for over 20 years, first as Co-Editor from 1987-2002 and then as Chief Editor from 2002-2009. From 1990-1994 he served on the Executive of the University of the West Indies Publisher’s Association, a position in which he further facilitated the publication of scholarly work.
Dr. Chang is also a former Co-Editor of CARIB, and was a Guest Editor of the Caribbean Quarterly issue “The Chinese in the Caribbean”, and Kunapipi XIV.2 (1992). Importantly, he also helped provide a much needed outlet for writers of fiction and poetry during his 25-year stint as Editor of Pathways, a journal of creative writing.