U.S. Army Veteran | Educator | Historian

Dr. Ronald E. Harrigan is a U.S. Army veteran who served his country from 1969 to 1971, a retired University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) associate professor, and a dedicated steward of Virgin Islands education and sports history.

A proud son of the Virgin Islands, Dr. Harrigan earned his associate’s degree in business management (1968) and his bachelor’s degree in business administration (1972) from the College of the Virgin Islands, now UVI. He went on to complete a master’s degree at Indiana University (1978) and a doctoral degree at Columbia University in New York (1989).

Beginning his UVI career in 1972, Dr. Harrigan served across both campuses in roles including Assistant to the Registrar, Student Personnel Officer, Director of Student Affairs, Vice President for Student Affairs/Life and Development, Associate Professor of Education, and Interim Dean of the School of Education. He also contributed significantly to the development of intramural, extramural, club, and varsity sports at the university.

In 2023, Dr. Harrigan donated the Ronald E. Harrigan Collection — an extensive archive of photographs, yearbooks, reports, student publications, letters, and other memorabilia chronicling UVI’s history from its 1962 founding to the present — to the Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library. A former president of the Virgin Islands Genealogical Society and a member of the St. Thomas Historical Trust, and former president of the Virgin Islands University Sports Federation, he is currently writing a history of sports in the Virgin Islands, the foundations of education in the Danish West Indies and U.S. Virgin Islands, and the development of student affairs and services and sports programs at UVI.

Dr. Harrigan’s lifetime of service — to country, to students, and to the preservation of Virgin Islands heritage — reflects the values VIVA proudly champions.