Sir Hilary Beckles honoured for 40 years of service
Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. February 5, 2020. The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Mona Campus thanked Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles for his 40 years of unbroken service to the regional University at a long service awards ceremony on Thursday, January 30, 2020. The ceremony was held at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge & Conference Centre.
Caption: L to R: Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles receives his long service award from Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI Mona, Professor Dale Webber.
Vice-Chancellor Beckles joined the Mona Campus in 1979 as a temporary lecturer at age 24. At the time he was just out of graduate school in the UK, where he completed a doctorate in Economic History at Hull University.
At age 36 he was appointed to a personal professorship in Economic and Social History, becoming the youngest person then, to achieve that academic title in the history of The UWI. He served as Head of the campus’ History Department, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies, as well as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal at The UWI Cave Hill Campus for 15 years before his appointment as Vice-Chancellor in 2015. He is the first Vice-Chancellor to have served at all levels of The UWI administration over 30 years.
Vice-Chancellor Beckles was among 115 UWI staff members who received 15, 21, 30 and 40-year long service awards, including Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI Mona, Professor Dale Webber.
-End-
About The UWI
For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education ranked The UWI among the top universities in world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018 and 2019. The UWI was the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)
