The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica, W.I. Monday, November 24, 2025- The University of London conferred the degree of Honorary Doctor of Social Sciences on Professor Sir Hilary Beckles on Wednesday, 19 November 2025. The ceremony of conferment was a special event held on Foundation Day to mark the 189th anniversary of the university. It took place at Senate House, the administrative centre of the university, under the patronage of the Chancellor, Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne.
In presenting Sir Hilary to Her Royal Highness, orator Professor Kingsley Abbott commended him for decades of distinguished scholarship as an historian, expert leadership in the field of higher education, and path breaking and visionary advocacy in social justice on the world stage. He informed the gathering that Sir Hilary was a child of the ‘Windrush’ migration from the West Indies to the UK, who rose through the high school system mastered the higher education research system, receiving a PhD in Economic History from Hull University at the tender age of 24 years.
From there he has soared to become Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies where he became its youngest professor at the age of 35. He now serves also as the Chancellor of the United Nations University, and Distinguished Chancellor’s Visiting Professor at Cornell University.
In response, Sir Hilary remarked that the honour was a tribute to the University of the West Indies that had begun its journey in 1948 as a College of the University of London which it continues to see as its ancestral home. Sir Hilary further remarked: “At a personal level, the honour is most gratifying because I was here at this distinguished university 39 years ago as a Senior Research Fellow where I had the opportunity to research, write, and publish my first major academic monograph.”
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 center of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region for over 75 years. From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with nearly 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 Global Campus, and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The UWI offers over 1000 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 the wider world.
The UWI has been consistently ranked among the best in the world by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). Since The UWI’s 2018 debut in THE’s rankings, it has performed well in multiple schemes—among them including World University Rankings, Golden Age University Rankings (between 50 and 80 years old), Latin America Rankings, and the 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 Well-being; Gender Equality and Climate Action.
Learn more at www.uwi.edu.
