UWI Global Giving receives US$250,000 to establish
the Dr Doyle & Linda Slifer Endowment Fund
The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica, Tuesday, September 01, 2020— Dr Doyle Slifer, a distinguished alumnus of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), has made a US$250,000 donation to The UWI’s Global Giving campaign, joining in building a culture of philanthropy at the regional university.
The gift is an initial investment towards the establishment of the Dr Doyle & Linda Slifer Endowment Fund, with the US$250,000 to exist in perpetuity and the investment income to be used to provide scholarships and bursaries to deserving medical students across the University’s five campuses.
A 93-year-old retired Board Certified Clinical and Surgical Pathologist in the USA, Dr Slifer was The UWI’s first foreign student in the Faculty of Medicine. He shared that the period 1964 to 1968 turned out to be some of the best years of his life. Today, Dr Doyle Slifer is proud of The UWI’s high reputation and its rankings by the Times Higher Education: top in our hemisphere and among the top in the world over the past three years.
Dr Slifer has been a very generous benefactor of The UWI Faculty of Medicine, donating a range of equipment to the laboratories, and sponsorships towards tuition and fees, consistently over 50 years. He reconfirmed his loyalty and indebtedness to the University, and expressed his desire to extend The UWI legacy to deserving students by leaving an additional US$150,000 in his will for scholarships.
In thanking and commending our distinguished alum, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles conveyed that “Dr Slifer’s kindness and commitment to The UWI is deeply treasured particularly because he shares the University’s recognition that education is one of the most critical means to personal freedom and fulfilment, and contributing to nation and region building.”
This contribution of the Dr Doyle & Linda Slifer Endowment Fund to UWI Global Giving is the University’s most significant contribution to the 2020 campaign which was aimed at assisting deserving students functioning in difficult social circumstances because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The month-long giving campaign which ran throughout August is an annual tradition for the University, targeting alumni and friends to help contribute to Caribbean development by ensuring the future of the region’s human resource capacity.
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Dr Doyle and Linda Slifer, generous benefactors of the Endowment Fund in their names, which will provide scholarships and bursaries to medical students at The UWI.
About UWI Global Giving
UWI Global Giving is a key fundraising initiative at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), aimed at raising awareness of the Caribbean region’s history and the role of education, as well as building a culture of philanthropy towards regional development. Throughout August, the crowdfunding campaign encouraged persons to give small contributions to the University—as little as US$10 online via www.uwi.edu/giving. The collective proceeds will fund scholarships and bursaries for students in need.
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 five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda 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, Africa and Europe including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean 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; the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ); The UWI-University of Havana Centre for Sustainable Development; The UWI-Coventry Institute for Industry-Academic Partnership with the University of Coventry and the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research with the University of Glasgow.
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. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018, 2019 and 2020. The UWI has been 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.)
