| University of the West Indies | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Oriens Ex Occidente Lux ("A Light Rising From The West") |
| Established | 1948 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | Sir George Alleyne |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof. E. Nigel Harris |
| Academic staff | 1000 |
| Students | 36,417 |
| Location | *Mona, Jamaica *Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago,[1] *Cave Hill, Barbados *Debe, Trinidad and Tobago (under construction) |
| Website | www.uwi.edu |
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.
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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, 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.
Dr Albert Belville Lockhart: Consultant and Ophthalmologist, Recipient of the Jamaican Order of Merit, co-inventor of Canasol[2]
Professor Manley Elisha West: Professor of Pharmacology, Recipient of the Jamaican Order of Merit, co-inventor of Canasol[3]
UWI Graduates who are, or have been, Heads of Government:
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. Portia simpson Miller: 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: Former 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:
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