The Office of the Principal: The collective Open Campus and, indeed, the entire community of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), mourns the passing of one of its most resolute supporters, Mr. Andy Delmar. Mr. Delmar passed away tragically on Sunday, July 17, 2016 in a motor vehicle accident in his island home of St. Lucia. He was an outstanding member of the Open Campus Council, representing his country and the interests of higher education and development across the extended English-speaking Caribbean. Mr. Delmar was first appointed to the Open Campus Council for the 2012/2013 academic year.
In January 2014, Mr. Delmar was appointed Managing Director of the 1st National Bank, the longest standing financial institution in St. Lucia. In a related press release about his new appointment, President of 1st National Bank and former University Council member, Dr. Charmaine Gardner, mentioned that Mr. Delmar’s appointment came at a time when the bank had strategically realigned its structure and operations.
With his 23 years of experience in the Caribbean banking and financial services sector, the Open Campus was very grateful for the wealth of experience and wisdom from Mr. Delmar, in his role as Chair of the Finance Sub-committee of the Campus, contributed to generating strategies for funding its operations and structures across the Caribbean region. With his accumulated experience and professional expertise in essential areas such as retail banking, sales, small business, home financing, product management, marketing and personal banking, the Open Campus has lost a significant backer of many courses and programmes in the same fields offered from the Campus.
A committed supporter of youth groups in athletics and music in St. Lucia during his lifetime, Mr. Delmar also held senior regional positions with CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB), including those of director, retail banking operations; district manager, EC Islands, with responsibility for retail, wealth and small business; director of FirstCaribbean International Finance Corporation; associate director, retail sales for Barbados, Belize and EC Islands; home finance manager for the OECS, BVI and St. Maarten; product manager, marketing department; and personal banking manager, St. Lucia.
Mr. Delmar also held the professional banking designation of Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (FICB); and the degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA), specialising in financial services management from Dalhousie University, Canada. He is also a UWI almunus, having completed an Executive Diploma with the Cave Hill School of Business.
In her tribute, Principal of the Open Campus, Dr. Luz Longsworth states that: "As we continue to pay tribute to this man of honour, professionalism and goodwill, the Open Campus will fly its flags at all Open Campus Country Sites at half-mast on July 19, 2016 and on the day of his funeral. Even as we celebrate his immeasurable worth to St. Lucia and the Caribbean, to youth development, as well as his constant support of The UWI Open Campus, we deeply mourn this loss of such a wonderful human being. He was one of our own and we extend our sympathies to his mother, wife and children. He will be remembered with deep admiration and respect."
