University of the West Indies
Encyclopedia
The University of the West Indies (UWI, often pronounced "you-we"), is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean
: Anguilla
, Antigua and Barbuda
, The Bahamas
, Barbados
, Belize
, Bermuda
, the British Virgin Islands
, the Cayman Islands
, Dominica
, Grenada
, Guyana
, Jamaica
, Montserrat
, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago
, and Turks and Caicos. Each of these countries is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing for improved regional autonomy. The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London
.
The university consists of three physical campuses at Mona
in Jamaica, St. Augustine
in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill
in Barbados and the Open Campus. There are satellite campuses in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago (Faculty of Medical Sciences) and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management in Nassau, Bahamas
. The other contributing countries are served by the Open Campus which has a physical presence and Heads of Sites in each of the non-campus countries (and, in fact, the three campus countries as well). The establishment of the Open Campus subsumed the former School of Continuing Studies (SCS), Tertiary Level Institutions Unit (TLIU) and UWI Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) into one entity, the Open Campus, which has the same governance structure as the physical campuses.
The University College achieved independent university status in 1962. The St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, formerly the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), was started in 1960 and the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados was founded in 1963. Before the establishment of the Open Campus, University Centres, headed by a Resident Tutor, were established in each of the other 13 contributing countries.
Each of the physical campuses has faculties common to all the campuses, such as Humanities & Education and Social Sciences. Cave Hill and Mona have the Faculty of Pure & Applied Sciences while St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, houses the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Agriculture under the Faculty of Agriculture and Sciences. Cave Hill, Barbados, has a full Faculty of Law, so that undergraduates in Mona and St. Augustine who complete first year on their respective campuses must go on to Cave Hill. Both Mona, Jamaica, and St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, have the Faculty of Medicine. In 2008 Cave Hill accepted the first students at their Faculty of Medicine. Previously, they only accommodated students in the final two years in the medical program at their School of Medicine which was located at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. St. Augustine also has the Faculty of Engineering.
In 1950, HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
, Queen Victoria's last surviving granddaughter, became the first Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (then the University College of the West Indies).
Sir William Arthur Lewis
was the first Vice-Chancellor under the UWI’s independent Charter. A native of St Lucia, he served as the first West Indian Principal of the UCWI from 1958 to 1960 and as Vice-Chancellor from 1960 to 1963. He was succeeded by Sir Philip Sherlock (a Jamaican and one of the UWI’s founding fathers) who served as Vice-Chancellor from 1963 to 1969. Sir Roy Marshall, a Barbadian was the next Vice-Chancellor serving from 1969 to 1974. He was succeeded by Dr Aston Zachariah Preston, a Jamaican, who died in office on June 24, 1986 having served from 1974.
The fifth Vice-Chancellor was Sir Alister McIntyre who served from 1988 to 1998 followed by alumnus and Professor Emeritus Rex Nettleford
who served from 1998 to 2004. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor E. Nigel Harris.
Current enrolment across the four campuses is 56,000.
Professors Emeriti include Sir George Alleyne, Mervyn C. Alleyne
, Sir Fitzroy Richard Augier, Compton D. Bourne, Wilfred R. Chan, Daphne R. Douglas, Sir John Simon Rawson Golding, Douglas Gordon Hawkins Hall, Keith Laurence, Woodville Marshall, Mervyn Morris, Sir Kenneth Stewart, and Dr Micheal Carter, among others.
, co-inventor of Canasol
Professor Manley Elisha West: Professor of Pharmacology, Recipient of the Jamaican Order of Merit
, co-inventor of Canasol
The Most Hon. Percival J. Patterson
: Former Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Dr. the Rt. Hon. Sir Kennedy A. Simmonds: Former Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis
The Rt. Hon. Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford
: Former Prime Minister of Barbados
The Hon. Dr. Orlando Smith
: Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands
The Hon. Bruce Golding
: Former Prime Minister of Jamaica
Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves
: Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The Hon. Patrick Manning
: Former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
The Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur
: Former Prime Minister of Barbados
Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith C. Mitchell: Prime Minister of Grenada
Dr. the Hon. Kenny Anthony
: Prime Minister of St. Lucia
The Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas
: Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis
The Hon. David Thompson
: Prime Minister of Barbados
The Hon. Dean Barrow
: Prime Minister of Belize
The Hon. Joseph Walcott Parry: Premier of Nevis
The Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar
: Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
The Hon. Andrew Holness
: Prime Minister of Jamaica
UWI Graduates in other fields:
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
: Anguilla
Anguilla
Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
, Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
, The Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
, Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, and Turks and Caicos. Each of these countries is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing for improved regional autonomy. The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
.
The university consists of three physical campuses at Mona
Mona, Jamaica
Mona is a neighbourhood in southeastern Saint Andrew Parish, approximately five miles from Kingston, Jamaica. A former sugar plantation, it is the site of a reservoir serving the city of Kingston and of the main campus of the University of the West Indies...
in Jamaica, St. Augustine
Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
St. Augustine, a town on the East-West Corridor of Trinidad and Tobago, is the site of one of the four campuses of the University of the West Indies. It is located east of Curepe and west of Tunapuna....
in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill
Cave Hill, Saint Michael, Barbados
Cave Hill, St. Michael is a suburban area situated in the parish of St. Michael. It is located about 4 km north-west of the capital-city Bridgetown along the west coast of Barbados....
in Barbados and the Open Campus. There are satellite campuses in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago (Faculty of Medical Sciences) and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management in Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
. The other contributing countries are served by the Open Campus which has a physical presence and Heads of Sites in each of the non-campus countries (and, in fact, the three campus countries as well). The establishment of the Open Campus subsumed the former School of Continuing Studies (SCS), Tertiary Level Institutions Unit (TLIU) and UWI Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) into one entity, the Open Campus, which has the same governance structure as the physical campuses.
History
The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) at Mona in Jamaica, in special relationship with the University of London based on the recommendations of the Asquith Commission. The Commission was established in 1943 and reviewed higher education in the then British colonies.The University College achieved independent university status in 1962. The St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, formerly the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), was started in 1960 and the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados was founded in 1963. Before the establishment of the Open Campus, University Centres, headed by a Resident Tutor, were established in each of the other 13 contributing countries.
Each of the physical campuses has faculties common to all the campuses, such as Humanities & Education and Social Sciences. Cave Hill and Mona have the Faculty of Pure & Applied Sciences while St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, houses the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Agriculture under the Faculty of Agriculture and Sciences. Cave Hill, Barbados, has a full Faculty of Law, so that undergraduates in Mona and St. Augustine who complete first year on their respective campuses must go on to Cave Hill. Both Mona, Jamaica, and St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, have the Faculty of Medicine. In 2008 Cave Hill accepted the first students at their Faculty of Medicine. Previously, they only accommodated students in the final two years in the medical program at their School of Medicine which was located at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. St. Augustine also has the Faculty of Engineering.
In 1950, HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the longest-lived Princess of the Blood Royal of the British Royal Family and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria...
, Queen Victoria's last surviving granddaughter, became the first Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (then the University College of the West Indies).
Sir William Arthur Lewis
William Arthur Lewis
Sir William Arthur Lewis was a Saint Lucian economist well known for his contributions in the field of economic development...
was the first Vice-Chancellor under the UWI’s independent Charter. A native of St Lucia, he served as the first West Indian Principal of the UCWI from 1958 to 1960 and as Vice-Chancellor from 1960 to 1963. He was succeeded by Sir Philip Sherlock (a Jamaican and one of the UWI’s founding fathers) who served as Vice-Chancellor from 1963 to 1969. Sir Roy Marshall, a Barbadian was the next Vice-Chancellor serving from 1969 to 1974. He was succeeded by Dr Aston Zachariah Preston, a Jamaican, who died in office on June 24, 1986 having served from 1974.
The fifth Vice-Chancellor was Sir Alister McIntyre who served from 1988 to 1998 followed by alumnus and Professor Emeritus Rex Nettleford
Rex Nettleford
Ralston Milton "Rex" Nettleford, OM ,FIJ, OCC, was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of The University of the West Indies , the leading research university in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Born in Falmouth, Jamaica, Nettleford...
who served from 1998 to 2004. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor E. Nigel Harris.
Current enrolment across the four campuses is 56,000.
Professors Emeriti include Sir George Alleyne, Mervyn C. Alleyne
Mervyn C. Alleyne
Mervyn Coleridge Alleyne is a sociolinguist, creolist and dialectologist whose work has focused on the creole languages of the Caribbean....
, Sir Fitzroy Richard Augier, Compton D. Bourne, Wilfred R. Chan, Daphne R. Douglas, Sir John Simon Rawson Golding, Douglas Gordon Hawkins Hall, Keith Laurence, Woodville Marshall, Mervyn Morris, Sir Kenneth Stewart, and Dr Micheal Carter, among others.
Notable faculty and administrators
Dr Albert Belville Lockhart: Consultant and Ophthalmologist, Recipient of the Jamaican Order of MeritJamaican Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is part of the Jamaican honours system and is the third highest honour conferred by the nation of Jamaica. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or on distinguished citizen of another country who has achieved eminent international distinction in the field of science,...
, co-inventor of Canasol
Professor Manley Elisha West: Professor of Pharmacology, Recipient of the Jamaican Order of Merit
Jamaican Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is part of the Jamaican honours system and is the third highest honour conferred by the nation of Jamaica. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or on distinguished citizen of another country who has achieved eminent international distinction in the field of science,...
, co-inventor of Canasol
Notable alumni
UWI Graduates who are, or have been, Heads of Government:The Most Hon. Percival J. Patterson
P. J. Patterson
Percival Noel James Patterson, ON, QC, PC, O.E., was the sixth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006. Until February 2006 he was the leader of the Jamaican People's National Party . The new PNP leader, Portia Simpson-Miller, took over as Prime Minister on 30 March 2006...
: Former Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Dr. the Rt. Hon. Sir Kennedy A. Simmonds: Former Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis
The Rt. Hon. Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford
Lloyd Erskine Sandiford
Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, KA is a Barbadian politician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Barbados from 1987 to 1994....
: Former Prime Minister of Barbados
The Hon. Dr. Orlando Smith
Orlando Smith
D. Orlando Smith, OBE is the current Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He also formerly served as Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 2003 to 2007...
: Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands
The Hon. Bruce Golding
Bruce Golding
Orette Bruce Golding MP served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party.-Biography:...
: Former Prime Minister of Jamaica
Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves
Ralph Gonsalves
Ralph Everard Gonsalves , also known as "Comrade Ralph", is the fourth and current Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and leader of the Unity Labour Party . Gonsalves became Prime Minister after his party won a majority government in the 2001 general election...
: Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The Hon. Patrick Manning
Patrick Manning
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was the fourth and sixth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the former Political Leader of the People's National Movement . He served as Prime Minister from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and held that office again from 24 December 2001 until 26...
: Former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
The Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur
Owen Arthur
Owen Seymour Arthur, MP was the fifth Prime Minister of Barbados who was in office from 1994 to 2008 and is the current Leader of Opposition in Barbados. To date, he is the longest serving Barbadian Prime Minister....
: Former Prime Minister of Barbados
Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith C. Mitchell: Prime Minister of Grenada
Dr. the Hon. Kenny Anthony
Kenny Anthony
Kenny Davis Anthony is a Saint Lucian politician who was the fifth Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 1997 to 2006. As leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, he was Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2011 and returned to office as Prime Minister on 30 November 2011 following the 2011...
: Prime Minister of St. Lucia
The Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas
Denzil Douglas
Denzil Llewellyn Douglas has been Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis since July 1995. He leads the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. He is the longest serving Prime Minister Saint Kitts and Nevis has ever had....
: Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis
The Hon. David Thompson
David Thompson
David Thompson may refer to:In exploration:*David Thompson , founder of the first European settlement in New Hampshire, United States...
: Prime Minister of Barbados
The Hon. Dean Barrow
Dean Barrow
Dean Oliver Barrow is Prime Minister of Belize and leader of the United Democratic Party. An attorney by trade, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1998 and was then Leader of the Opposition until the UDP won the February 2008 election...
: Prime Minister of Belize
The Hon. Joseph Walcott Parry: Premier of Nevis
The Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Kamla Persad-Bissessar is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the seventh person to hold this position...
: Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
The Hon. Andrew Holness
Andrew Holness
Andrew Holness is Prime Minister of Jamaica since October 2011, and was Minister of Education since 2007.Holness attended St. Catherine High School and later graduated from the University of the West Indies...
: Prime Minister of Jamaica
UWI Graduates in other fields:
- Fae A. EllingtonFae EllingtonFae Ellington, OD is a Jamaican media personality and lecturer best known for hosting the television series, “Morning Time” on JBC for over twelve years.-Background:...
, Jamaican media personality and lecturer
See also
- University of GuyanaUniversity of GuyanaThe University of Guyana, in Georgetown, Guyana is a public university established in 1963 by the Guyanese government.-History:Cheddi Jagan, then Premier of British Guiana considered that the University of the West Indies, to which his government had contributed since 1948, was not meeting the...
- University of Trinidad and TobagoUniversity of Trinidad and TobagoThe University of Trinidad and Tobago, also known as UTT, is a state owned university in Trinidad and Tobago established in 2004. Its main campus, currently under construction, will be located at Wallerfield in Trinidad...
External links
- University of the West Indies Official Web Site
Campus websites
- Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
- Mona Campus, Jamaica
- St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago
- Western Jamaica Campus
- Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago
- Open Campus