Professor Chevannes is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of the West Indies, Mona. A graduate of Boston College, the University of the West Indies, and Columbia University, he is a leading expert on the Rastafari movement in Jamaica. His academic interests also include Caribbean culture and male gender issues, on which he has also published. His recent works include the 1999 Grace Kennedy Foundation Lecture, What We Sow and What We Reap: Problems in the Cultivation of Male Identity in Jamaica, and the book Learning to Be A Man: Culture, Socialization and Gender Identity in Five Caribbean Communities.

Professor Chevannes has served the University of the West Indies in various capacities since 1973, most recently as Dean of Social Sciences Faculty from 1996 until July 2004 when he demitted office. He is currently an Alister McIntyre Fellow.

Professor Chevannes is well known for his public service. He chairs the 125 year-old Council of the Institute of Jamaica, is the founder of Fathers Incorporated, and founder of Partners for Peace. Recognized for his original contribution to Jamaican folk and religious song heritage, he recently put out a Compact Disc. In 2000 he was appointed by the Prime Minister of Jamaica to head a National Commission to consider and recommend whether or not ganja should be decriminalized for personal, private use. And in 2002 he was appointed a member of the Peace Management Initiative by the Minister of National Security to broker peace in violence-torn communities.