Rev. Prof. Upolu Lumā Vaai is the Manu Folau (Vice-Chancellor) of Pasifika Communities University (PCU) in Suva, Fiji, a role he has held since April 2025. He is also Professor of Theology & Ethics at PCU. He holds both a Masters and PhD degrees from Australia and has previously served as a board director for government ministries in Samoa. He first joined the faculty in 2014 as Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department for Theology and Ethics, and was elected as the ninth Principal of the institution in 2019. Dr Vaai was born in Samoa. He grew up in his 700 acre family farm land with mostly cocoa and mandarins. He counted time with the shadows of the sun, ate wild boars and wild bats, including wood borers, the delicacies of village communities. He lived with his family from a small taro farm, pig farm, and chicken farm, and drank from the nearby springs. It was during this time that he was oriented to a kinship philosophy of deep ecological relationship with the land, where he was taught to be humble and a good steward of the land.
Dr. Vaai is a decolonial educator, theologian, and indigenous philosopher. He is an internationally renowned and leading regional voice in reclaiming Pasifika ‘whole of life’ philosophies and theologies to shape a new development narrative. He leads a transformative movement in the Pacific for training and building the capacity of policy makers, educators, and civil servants on the critical role of ‘whole of life’ Pasifika philosophies in cultivating a (k)new development consciousness for the region. He led the establishment of the Pasifika Communities University (PCU) since 2019 and was launched in April 2025. He also pioneered the founding of the Institute for Climate and Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK), the Regional Institute for Leadership Development (RILED), the Centre of Research for New Pasifika Consciousness (CERNPAC), the Mission and Interfaith Centre (MAIC), the PCU Press, and the Pasifika Philosophies Conference. He was also instrumental in transforming the name of the Women’s Centre at PCU to the Centre for Gender and Social Justice (CGSJ).
He was instrumental in the development and founding of several initiatives for the Pacific churches such as ‘Restorying Gender’ initiative, the ‘KORO Research Mentoring Initiative’ that reframes research in the light of village ways of knowing, the ‘Pasifika Language Framework’ that allows research students from all over the world to write their postgraduate thesis in their own native language, the ‘Churches Initiative for Pasifika Scholars’ (CIPS) a scholarship scheme to develop scholars for churches in the Pacific in higher degrees, and the groundbreaking initiative called the ‘Pasifika Philosophies for Whole of Life Research and Development’, an international micro-qualification that trains policy makers for the purpose of transformative development.
He specializes in Pasifika ‘whole of life’ philosophies, Pasifika decolonisation studies, Pasifika relationality philosophy, Pasifika indigenous knowledge studies, Pasifika communities-based learning approach, whole of life education models, theological studies, and relational ethics. He is frequently invited to speak at international forums on Pasifika relationality, relational philosophy, relational hermeneutics, relational theology, and indigenous ways of knowing and being—ideas central to his publications and research.
He serves on numerous regional and international boards and advisory committees. These include the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Asia Development Bank, the World Bank, the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI), and the Oceania Centre Advisory Committee at the University of the South Pacific. He is Co-chair of the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, Chair and Convenor of the 2018 Pacific Philosophy Conference, a member of the G20 Anti-Racism Initiative and G20 Environment Working Group. He is also an expert member of the UNODC Anti- Corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD), serves on the Steering Committee of the TODA Institute, the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and the advisory board of the Laudato Si Institute at Oxford University. He the editor of the Journal for Contemporary Pasifika Theologies (CPT) and sits on the editorial boards of six international journals and serves on the executive committees of the Pacific Conference of Churches and the Association of South Pacific Theological Schools. He has also worked as a consultant for the Asia Development Bank, the UNDP, Marsden Fund, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes.
Dr. Vaai has held fellowships and visiting academic roles at universities including the Australian National University, Griffith University, Otago University, University of Adelaide, University of Oxford, Auckland University of Technology, and University of Auckland. He is a respected international speaker and examiner of both theological and non-theological Master’s and PhD theses. His research and publications focus on the intersections of Pasifika philosophies, theology, ecology, development, ecumenism, and communities—all contributing to the affirmation of the ‘whole of life’ vision that underpins his work. He is also an ordained minister of the Methodist Church of Samoa.
Education
– PhD (Theology and Philosophy) (Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia) 2007
– M.Theol (Brisbane College of Theology, Australia) 2004
– BD (Piula Theological College, Samoa) 2001
– DipTheol (Piula Theological College, Samoa) 1996
– CertTheol (St. John’s Trinity Theological College, Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand) 1994