Bissessar, Ann Marie 1958-

PERSONAL: Born March 6, 1958, in San Fernando, Trinidad; daughter of Eulick Bissessarsingh (a truck driver) and Theresa (a homemaker; maiden name, Baldeosingh); married John La Guerre (a professor), March 24, 1999. Ethnicity: "East Indian." Education: University of the West Indies, B.A., 1990, M.S., 1994, Ph.D., 1998; University of London, LL.B., 1998. Religion: Presbyterian.

ADDRESSES: Home—9 Santa Margarita Circle Rd., St. Augustine, Trinidad. Office—c/o Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Worked for government agencies of Trinidad and Tobago including as clerk, 1983-87, chief clerk, 1987-92, and training coordinator, 1992-95; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago, part-time lecturer in behavioral sciences, 1998-, research fellow with Faculty of Medical Sciences, 1998-99, founder of Political Society, 2002, academic coordinator of study-abroad program. Suffolk University, Boston, MA, lecturer, 2000; also public speaker. Conducted field studies in Jamaica, Guyana, and Barbados. Trinidad Broadcasting Unit, political analyst for general elections, 2000-02; consultant to Inter-American Development Bank.

MEMBER: American Political Science Association, Institute for Public Administration (New Delhi, India).

WRITINGS:

Crown Colony Administration, Structural Adjustment, and New Public Management: The Agony of Reform, School of Continuing Studies, University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), 2000.

Public-Sector Management, Distance Education Centre, University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), 2001.

(Editor and contributor) Policy Transfer, New Public Management, and Globalization: Mexico and the Caribbean, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 2002.

The Forgotten Factor: Public Servants and New Public Management in a Developing Country, School of Continuing Studies, University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), 2002.

(Editor, with Selwyn Ryan, and contributor) Issues in the Governance of the Caribbean, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), 2002.

Contributor to books, including Issues in the Government and Politics of the West Indies, edited by John La Guerre, School of Continuing Studies, University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), 1997, 2nd edition, 2002; Policy Change, Governance, and New Public Management, edited by La Guerre, School of Continuing Studies, University of the West Indies, 2001; and Indians Abroad, Greenwich Millennium Press (London, England), 2003. Contributor to periodicals, including Caribbean Issues, Public Personnel Management, Caribbean Journal of Public-Sector Management, Journal of Social Psychology, Caribbean Dialogue, and International Review of Administrative Sciences.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Barriers to Mobility in the Public Services of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago: Myth or Reality; Ethnicity and Elections in Trinidad and Tobago, 2001-2002, for publisher Jack Menke; Dilemmas of Governance in a Small State; editing Governance and Integration, with Hamid Ghany; Challenges Facing Senior Public Servants in a Plural Society.

SIDELIGHTS: Ann Marie Bissessar told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is to fill the gap that exists with respect to the academic literature on public-sector reform in the Caribbean. I write also for my students and my university so that they will feel a sense of pride that one of their own has published with the better known publishers or well-renowned journals.

"The person who has the most influence on my work is my husband, John La Guerre, who is a professor emeritus. He is my most scathing critic and my mentor and friend.

"The writing process is extremely difficult for me. Once the concept emerges, I can't sleep until it crystallizes on paper. At that point, I then go on to another topic.

"Most of my writings are based on my doctoral thesis. However, having spent over twenty years in the public services of Trinidad and Tobago, my ambition is to examine problems and propose recommendations which may one day lead to increased productivity in small developing countries."