The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. W.I. Tuesday, December 7, 2021— The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is pleased to announce the conferral of the title of ‘Emeritus’ on seven retired Professors. The decision on the conferrals was made during a virtual University Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting held in late October.
‘Emeritus’ designation is given to persons who retired in the rank of ‘Professor’—in recognition of their distinguished and exemplary careers—and generally allows these individuals to retain their titles. The list of new Professors Emerti follows.
Professor Jonas Addae retired in 2020. He served the University for 34 years in the Department of Preclinical Sciences, including sixteen as Professor of Physiology. He was the Head of the Unit of Human Physiology from 1993 to 2013 and during that time, held the posts of Deputy Dean, Basic Medical Sciences from 1993 to 1995, and Head of the Department of Preclinical Sciences from 1993-1999. He served again as the Head of Department between 2008 and 2015 and also occasionally acted as the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
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Professor the Most Honourable Violet Eudine Barriteau retired in 2020, after having served The UWI and the region for over 35 years with exceptional visionary leadership. Her UWI career includes six years as Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Cave Hill Campus; one year as Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Open Campus; six years as Deputy Principal of the Cave Hill Campus; four years as Cave Hill Campus Coordinator of Graduate Studies and Research and fifteen years as Head of the Gender and Development Unit, Nita Barrow Unit, Cave Hill Campus.
Professor John Ayotunde Isola Bewaji, who retired earlier this year has spent 29 years at The UWI after joining the Mona Campus as a Rhodes Visiting Lecturer in the 1991/1992 academic year. He has a record of over four decades of distinguished academic, administrative, institutional and public service at various Universities in Africa, USA and the Caribbean and has been a pioneer in the development of scholarly programmes.
Professor Sean Carrington retired earlier this year, after serving for nineteen years as Professor of Plant Biology at The UWI Cave Hill Campus. During his tenure, he provided excellent leadership as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology on two occasions from 1993 to 1996 and 2004 to 2005; Head of the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences for three years; Dean of the Faculty for four years and Chair of the Grounds Development Committee for six years.
Professor Horace Fletcher retired from The UWI in 2018. He contributed 28 years of distinguished leadership through significant clinical research, publishing, teaching, research development and building research capacity at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Professor Stafford Griffith retired in 2020. His tenure at the UWI includes interim service as the inaugural Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Five Island Campus from 2019 to 2020; Regional Director of the Office for Online Learning from 2017 to 2019; Director of the School of Education and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Education from 2012 to 2017.
Professor Mitko Voutchkov retried in 2015. He served at The UWI’s International Centre for Environment and Nuclear Science (ICENS) from 1993 to 2006, and then at the Mona Campus Department of Physics from 2006, until his retirement. He is currently a Consultant at the University Hospital of the West Indies (The UHWI) in Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Safety.
More about the Professors Emerti
Professor Jonas Addae
Professor Addae (MBChB, PhD, MBA) who retired in 2020, served the University for 34 years with distinction and dedication in the Department of Preclinical Sciences, including 16 years as Professor of Physiology.
Professor Addae has made outstanding contributions as a lecturer, administrator, negotiator and mentor. He was instrumental in designing and implementing the initial preclinical curriculum for the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (1986-1989). He served as Head of the Unit of Human Physiology from 1993 to 2013. During this time, he also held the posts of Deputy Dean, Basic Medical Sciences (1993-1995) and Head of the Department of Preclinical Sciences (1993-1999). He served again as the Head of Department between 2008 and 2015, during which time he occasionally acted as the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Professor Addae has mentored and supervised many graduate students while providing critical support to the Preclinical Sciences Department and the Faculty of Medical Sciences in their continued curriculum improvements to meet trends in medical education. He provided training to staff and students in methods of Problem-Based Learning from 1993 to 2020. Then, in 2014, he initiated new assessment methods for small group learning in the preclinical sciences. Professor Addae received the Guardian Life Premium Teaching Award in 2000 and the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for excellence in Teaching in 2014.
Professor Addae sat on many University and Campus committees. He was a member of the Chancellor’s Open Campus Governance Task Force that made recommendations for governance, teaching, optimizing online learning and funding model. He subsequently chaired a cross-campus committee to implement changes to the governance and operations of the Open Campus. He chaired the St Augustine Campus Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship from 2018 t0 2020. He was a member of the University Senate for two, three-year terms and was a member of the University Council for one year.
Professor Addae was Deputy Chair of the steering committee (2016-2017) which prepared the Institutional Self-Study report for the re-accreditation of the St. Augustine Campus by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT). He has served as the team leader, secretary or member of site visit teams of the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) that evaluate medical schools in the Caribbean for program accreditation. He has also been helping a medical school in the USA for program and institutional accreditation by LCME and WSCUC accrediting commissions. Professor Addae has provided his expertise to support the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and other University officials for the planned UWI Global School of Medicine to meet accreditation standards of CAAM-HP and the requirements of US Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).
Professor the Most Honourable Violet Eudine Barriteau
Former Cave Hill Campus Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor the Most Honourable Violet Eudine Barriteau has been conferred with the title of Professor Emerita by The University of the West Indies (The UWI).
Professor Barriteau served The UWI and the region for over 35 years with exceptional visionary leadership. Her service includes six years as Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Cave Hill Campus; one year as Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Open Campus; six years as Deputy Principal of the Cave Hill Campus; four years as Cave Hill Campus Coordinator of Graduate Studies and Research and fifteen years as Head of the Gender and Development Unit, Nita Barrow Unit, Cave Hill Campus.
During her tenure as Principal, Professor Barriteau proposed and established the inaugural Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts at the Cave Hill Campus in August 2020; in 2021 established a UWI-University of Ghana approved preclinical medical degree programme for the training of Ghanaian students; proposed and established in 2018 the Centre for Biosecurity Studies—a one-of-its-kind in the Commonwealth Caribbean; introduced the Smart Campus Initiative in 2017, pioneering the ongoing digital transformation of the Campus’ operations and pedagogical practices; led the Cave Hill Campus in gaining the maximum seven-year reaccreditation period (2019 -2026) and led the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cave Hill Campus in gaining Accreditation from the United States Department of Education’s National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation in 2016.
Professor Barriteau has edited/co-edited five books, including Confronting Power, Theorizing Gender: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in the Caribbean, which received the UWI’s Press Inaugural Award for the best-selling textbook for 2004; as well as the pioneering and foundational text The Political Economy of Gender in the Twentieth Century Caribbean, published by Palgrave International. She has published seventy-nine articles, book chapters and conference papers in international refereed journals and edited conference proceedings, and was an International Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Research on Gender (GEXCEL) at Örebro University, Sweden, in 2008, 2010 and 2013.
Professor Barriteau, is a globally recognised scholar in Feminist Theory and a Professor in Gender and Public Policy, who has applied her expertise to developing and institutionalising Gender and Development Studies at the Cave Hill Campus by focusing on the study of gender systems and the political economy of gender. She developed the curriculum for the Nita Barrow Unit’s flagship outreach programme Caribbean Institute in Gender and Development and taught in it since 1994 and established the Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy programmes to build Caribbean Feminist scholarship at the campus. She has supervised three doctoral theses, two MPhil theses and one Master of Arts thesis. She has also delivered over fifty lectures worldwide.
Professor Barriteau has also provided advisory and consulting services to governments and international agencies including CARICOM and UNIFEM. She was the Lead organizer of the Inaugural Gender and Development Forum at the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 15) held this year.
Professor Barriteau has received many honours for her service and pioneering leadership in the region. They include: The Order of Grenada Gold Award for Excellence; The Order of Freedom of Barbados, the country’s highest national honour and the Gold Crown of Merit and also the 10th CARICOM Triennial Award for Women (2011).
Professor John Ayotunde Isola Bewaji
Professor Bewaji, whose academic qualifications include a BA (1979) and MA (1983) Philosophy from University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and PhD (1991) from University of Ibadan, Certificate in Philosophy for Children (1991) from Montclair State University, NJ, USA, PGDE in Distance Education and MA in Distance Education from Commonwealth of Learning in Canada and Indira Gandhi National Open University in India (both as a Commonwealth Scholar), has a record of over four decades of distinguished academic, administrative, institutional and public service at various Universities in Africa, USA and the Caribbean. As a professor of Philosophy, he has been at the forefront of Caribbean Scholarship in philosophical, bioethical, aesthetic and critical thinking. An impressive achievement is his advocacy for the application and reflection of these in all aspects of academic and public life in the Caribbean.
The internationally recognised scholar, teacher and former Coordinator of the Philosophy Section at the Mona Campus first came to The UWI as a Rhodes Visiting Lecturer in the 1991/1992 Academic year on Sabbatical from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Professor Bewaji has been a pioneer in the development of scholarly programmes. He was instrumental in the development of the BA Major and MA in Philosophy at the Mona Campus. He has also contributed significantly to the expansion in course offerings, programmes, research and services in all areas of the philosophy programmes. As a graduate supervisor, he has overseen the completion of PhDs in Philosophy at The UWI, including some with high commendation and also increasing success in the Masters in Philosophy.
Professor Bewaji has also been at the forefront of the establishment of partnerships between The UWI and Universities in Africa. In 2017, when the University of Lagos, Nigeria and The UWI established a memorandum of Understanding for a joint MA degree in African and Diaspora Studies, Professor Bewaji coordinated the development of components for the MA at The UWI. He was also instrumental in the establishment, growth and success of the Botswana Medical Education placement in the Mona Campus Medical programme which brought eleven students from Botswana to the UWI in the 2003 to 2004 Academic year.
Professor Bewaji has extensive contribution to scholarship. He has been consistent in his output of publications, with over 80 to date. Among them are five pioneering and seminal books on philosophy, two co-authored and four co-edited books; almost 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals; 25 book chapters; and conference proceedings. One of his books, An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, was adopted as one of the “Significant 70 Books in 70 Years of UWI” by the University of the West Indies Library. He has also delivered 79 conference papers, keynotes and guest lectures, with his original theoretical trope of “Epistemicide” being a deconstructive tool for global racism, colonialism and neocolonialism. He is the founding Editor of Caribbean Journal of Philosophy and Founding President of the International Society for African Philosophy and Studies.
A scholar of international stature, Professor Bewaji was a member of Citizen Ambassador Visitation Programme to Hungary and Russia (1995), a Caribbean Exchange Scholar to Hunter College (CUNY) in 2002, a Visiting Scholar to University of Botswana (2002-2003), an awardee of the distinguished Guggenheim Research Fellowship (2010-2011), an Endowed Jay Newman Visiting Professor of Philosophy of Culture, Department of Philosophy, Brooklyn College (CUNY) 2011-2012, Senior Research Associate, University of Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa and he is on Professorial Tenure Review and Doctoral Examination Committees of Universities in USA, Africa and the Caribbean.
Professor Bewaji is consulted globally on Aesthetics, Epistemology, Leadership and the Philosophy of Culture. He is a consultant to UNESCO’s Global Bioethics Committee. He has served as Chairman of the National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica (UNESCO) (2014 -2019) and on the University’s Research Ethics Committee. He is a serving member of CODESRIA College of Mentors for PhD Studies in Africa and a member of the Evaluation Team for Fellowships and Scholarships.
Professor Bewaji has received The UWI Mona Principal’s New Initiative Research Award twice, as well as an Award for Best Researcher and Publication in Humanities and the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Publication.
Professor Bewaji is Professorial Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer at the Center of Excellence in Migration and Global Studies (CEMGS), National Open University of Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. He is currently Carnegie /CODESRIA Visiting Professor in Philosophy to the Institute of Cultural Studies, Obafemi Owolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Professor Sean Carrington
Professor Carrington retired earlier this year, after serving for nineteen years as Professor of Plant Biology at the Cave Hill Campus. During his tenure, he provided excellent leadership as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology on two occasions (1993 – 1996 & 2004 – 2005); Head of the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences for three years; Dean of the Faculty for four years and Chair of the Grounds Development Committee for six years. He was also the University’s Project Manager for the EU FP7 EUCARINET project for four years; acted as Campus Coordinator for Graduate Studies and Research on two occasions and most recently chaired the Committee for the Development of a New Facility for the Faculty of Science and Technology. He also established the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, developed curriculum and staff to enhance the physical plant and featured prominently in its history and modernisation.
Professor Carrington has also made a sterling contribution to The UWI by the application of his expertise in the study of tropical fruit ripening and of biodiversity conservation of Caribbean plants, developing and maintaining a significant herbarium on the campus.
His teaching and research have impacted the development and growth of knowledge on wild plants in the Eastern Caribbean and their uses. These gave birth to his authored books “Wild Plants of the Eastern Caribbean” and “Wild Plants of Barbados”. He also initiated a database on “Plants of the Eastern Caribbean” and is lead author on the book, “The A to Z of Barbados Heritage”.
Professor Carrington has mentored and trained many students in Plant Biology at the Cave Hill Campus. These include three students who received their PhD and one an MPhil.
Professor Horace Fletcher
Professor Fletcher contributed 28 years of distinguished leadership through significant clinical research, publishing, teaching, research development and building research capacity at the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Faculty of Medical Sciences. During his tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, several guidelines (new policy on assessment, clinical skills, and technical standards for study) were developed and implemented at the Faculty level, to ensure robust development of students. A team, under his leadership also revised the rubric for promotion, which is still in use. He also initiated project funding of over one million Euros from the European Union, along with the Ministry of Health for training and research to provide advance medical and nursing training to support and strengthen the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC) project. One hundred and four scholarships were awarded, and several fellowships and short courses developed and offered for specialist training at the graduate level.
Professor Fletcher is one of a two-member team which established the Gynaecological Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). This led to better care for patients with gynaecological problems and increased collaborative research activities with the department of Biochemistry and the International Centre for Nuclear Science (ICENS).
As an avid clinical researcher he revolutionised the practice of obstetrics and gynaecology. He was recognised internationally for his studies on the safe and effective use of misoprostol to induce labour during pregnancy. His research led to Misoprostol being established as a labour- inducing drug. He has also conducted research on preeclampsia and the use of vasopressin to stop bleeding at fibroid removal; and also on the effective management of surgical procedures for fibroids.
Professor Fletcher has published two casebooks; one hundred and twenty medical journal articles, twenty-five clinical studies, fifty-seven abstracts; and fifteen monographs, among other works.
Professor Fletcher has received national Awards for his pioneering contributions. He received the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander (2017) and the Gold Musgrave Medal (2012).
At the campus, Professor Fletcher has received the Principal’s Award for the Most Outstanding Researcher twice (2004 & 2005) and also the Award for Attracting the Most Research Funds. He has also received the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Award (2003) for Best Paper from a Developing Country.
Professor Fletcher is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He is a founding member of the National Cancer Institute of Jamaica; past Vice Chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, West Indian Section; a past President and Vice-President of Grabham (the Association of Gynaecologists in Jamaica) and a former Assistant Editor of the West Indian Medical Journal. He has served as a Consultant to the World Health Organization; the Pan American Health Organization; the Ministry of Health, Jamaica and the Government of Belize.
Professor Stafford Griffith
Professor Griffith’s sterling contributions in teaching, senior administration, research, publication, outreach and public service, have significantly enhanced the regional and international profile of The UWI and the capacity and competencies of teachers across the Caribbean region and the Diaspora. Professor Griffith retired in 2020 after serving The UWI for fifteen years.
Professor Griffith’s tenure includes Interim Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Five Island Campus (2019-2020); Regional Director of the Office for Online Learning (2017-2019); Director of the School of Education and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Education (2012-2017). He developed the Master of Education in Educational Measurement programme for face-to-face and online delivery, which has produced measurement specialists who currently serve education institutions across the region, including the tertiary level and the Caribbean Examinations Council. He also developed several specialised courses in Quantitative Research, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Advanced Educational and Psychological Measurement and Internal School-based Assessment. Additionally, he developed a comprehensive Study Guide and Resource Manual to support online teaching of these courses.
Professor Griffith’s record in research, scholarly work and public service have been transformative. His impressive publications include over 20 referred journal articles, many scientific/scholarly papers and technical reports, one book and two book chapters, and three monographs in areas related to various aspects of education. He has received the Principal’s Award for Best Research Publication in 2016 for his book School Based Assessment in a Caribbean Public Examination. As a Specialist in Curriculum Development, Teacher Training, Measurement and Evaluation he has advised many national and regional institutions and served as a consultant to national, regional and international organisations. He was awarded the Legacy Builder Award in 2018 for services to the Overseas Examination Council in Jamaica.
Professor Griffith’s career before The UWI includes Director of the USAID-funded Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Teacher Training (CCETT) and Pro-Registrar of the Caribbean Examination Council. Prior to this, he served as Assistant Registrar and Head of the Project Unit. He was also Consultant/National Coordinator of a World Bank and Jamaica Ministry of Education Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) Project; Director of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and The University of the West Indies Institutional Strengthening Project and Senior Education Project Manager at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Development Office/Caribbean. He has also held senior level positions on many national and regional commissions, committees and boards related to education.
Professor Mitko Voutchkov
Professor Mitko Voutchkov served at The UWI’s International Centre for Environment and Nuclear Science (ICENS) from 1993 to 2006, and at the Mona Campus Department of Physics from 2006 until his retirement in 2015. He currently serves at the University Hospital of the West Indies (The UHWI) as a Consultant in Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Safety and has been instrumental to the establishment of the Nuclear Medicine Facility at the hospital.
Professor Voutchkov has made significant contributions to the development a cadre of Medical
Physicists in Jamaica, the Caribbean and internationally through the development and offer of the
undergraduate major in Medical Physics and Bioengineering (now Medical Physics) in the Department of
Physics since 2008 and the MSc, MPhil and PhD programmes in Medical Physics since 2012.
Since 1990, he has served on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA): Technical Cooperation Expert Missions across the world as Technical Expert and Lecturer in member-states; as Project Coordinator of eight IAEA funded national projects in Jamaica and as Regional Coordinator of the IAEA Project “Strengthening Human Capacities of Caribbean Countries in Radiation Medicine”.
Professor Voutchkov, holds two patents and is well known for original research. He established a robust research programme on medical and health physics and the promotion of nuclear science as a solution to agriculture, industry and health challenges in Jamaica. He has successfully supervised fifty MSc theses and twelve PhD/MPhil theses in Medical Physics. Since his retirement, three PhD students and one MPhil completed studies in Medical Physics. He is currently supervising six final year PhD students.
Professor Voutchkov has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals; two books; two book chapters; 33 refereed conference proceedings and 34 conference papers, abstracts and posters.
His outstanding work has earned him many awards. He received the Principal’s Research Award in 2006, 2012 and 2018; the Association of American Publishers Book Award in 2006 for Excellence in Professional and Scholarly Publishing; the British Medical Association Book Award in 2005 and in 2002, the Gleaner Honour Award for Excellence in Science and Technology.
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About The University of the West Indies
The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global 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 its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.
The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%.
The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old). The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
