UWI to honour President Richards

He is among 13 persons to be conferred with honorary doctorates at the UWI graduation ceremonies in October and November at its campuses at Cave Hill, Barbados, St Augustine, Trinidad and Mona, Jamaica.

The St Augustine Campus graduation ceremonies will see the conferral of one Doctor of Letters and three Doctor of Laws degrees.

Jamaica Kincaid will receive the Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) degree. She is a Harvard University lecturer but has pursued a career in writing and for some 20 years had been staff writer for the New Yorker Magazine.

Economist Lloyd A Best, who has served in many capacities as an academic and who was in 2002 recognised by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) for his sterling contribution to the region’s intellectual advancement, will be recognised with the Doctor of Laws. He currently focuses his works on constitutional reform.

George Price is also to be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree. He entered politics in 1947 and became Belize’s first premier in 1961. He is now retired from active electoral politics and was honoured in 2000 for the prominent role he played in leading Belize to independence in 1981.

The distinguished awardees for the Cave Hill campus ceremonies are St Lucian entrepreneur Charmaine Gardner, Oscar Peterson, musician, legal luminary Sir Frederick Smith and internationally reputed labour leader Sir C LeRoy Trotman.

Gardner has served in the private and public sectors to promote strategic initiatives for human resource development. She has received many honours in her country and will be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree. Similar honours will be conferred on Canadian-born Oscar Peterson who is an internationally renowned jazz composer, with four Grammys to his credit. His outstanding achievements were recognised in August 2005 with a commemorative stamp designed in his honour.

Sir Frederick Smith, retired judge of the Barbados Court of Appeal, is a distinguished Caribbean jurist known throughout West Africa for his contribution to law and his work on the constitutional aspect of national independence. He, too, will be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree. The fourth person to be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree is Barbadian national Sir LeRoy Trotman, who has chaired several committees of the International Labour Organisation’s governing body. He has the distinction of receiving his country’s highest honour for his contribution to the labour movement.

At the Mona campus Colonel Collin L G Harris of the Moore Town Maroons will be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree. Col Harris has had a distinguished career as a leader of a traditional Maroon community.

Catholic priest Father Richard HoLung is best known for his work with the homeless and indigent through the Missionaries of the Poor. He is also known for his highly successful musical compositions which have helped to advance his outreach work. Less known is the fact that he was a UWI lecturer. He will be conferred with a Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree.

Grenadian national Justice Dr L Dolliver Nelson, who was the judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and held the office of vice-president of the Tribunal from 1999 and served as president from 2002 until his retirement in September 2005, will be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree.

American professor Sydney Mintz will also be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree. He is an eminent anthropologist who devoted his life to research on societies of the Caribbean. Much of his works has resulted in the establishment of strong Caribbean Studies in North American universities.

Belizean Governor General Sir Colville N Young will also be conferred with the Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree at the Mona graduation. Sir Colville is an educator and author, a linguist, lyricist and composer. He was the first president of the University College of Belize in 1986.