University of the West Indies

University of the West Indies
Motto	Oriens Ex Occidente Lux ("Western Light Rising")
Established	1948
Type	Public
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. E. Nigel Harris
Faculty	1000
Students	36,417
Location	*Mona, Jamaica *Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, *Cave Hill, Barbados
Website	www.uwi.edu

The University of the West Indies, also known as UWI, is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos. Each of these countries is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing for improved regional autonomy. The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London.

The university consists of three major campuses at Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados. There are satellite campuses in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago (Faculty of Medical Sciences) and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management in Nassau, Bahamas. The other contributing countries are served by the Open Campus which has a physical presence and resident tutors in each of the non-campus countries (and, in fact, the three campus countries as well). The Open Campus amalgamates the former School of Continuing Studies (SCS), Tertiary Level Institutions Unit (TLIU) and UWI Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC).

History

The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) at Mona in Jamaica, in special relationship with the University of London based on the recommendations of the Asquith Commission. The Commission was established in 1943 and reviewed higher education in the then British colonies.

The University College achieved independent university status in 1962. The St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, formerly the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), was started in 1960 and the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados was founded in 1963. In addition, University Centres, headed by a Resident Tutor, were established in each of the other 13 contributing countries.

Each main campus has faculties common to all the campuses, such as Humanities & Education and Social Sciences. Cave Hill and Mona have the Faculty of Pure & Applied Sciences while St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, houses the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Agriculture under the Faculty of Agriculture and Sciences. Cave Hill, Barbados, has a full Faculty of Law, so that undergraduates in Mona and St. Augustine who complete first year on their respective campuses must go on to Cave Hill. Both Mona, Jamaica, and St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, have the Faculty of Medicine. In 2008 Cave Hill accepted the first students at their Faculty of Medicine. Previously, they only accommodated students in the final two years in the medical program at their School of Medicine which was located at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. St. Augustine also has the Faculty of Engineering.

In 1950, HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, Queen Victoria's last surviving granddaughter, became the first Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (then the University College of the West Indies).

Sir William Arthur Lewis was the first Vice-Chancellor under the UWI’s independent Charter. A native of St Lucia, he served as the first West Indian Principal of the UCWI from 1958-1960 and as Vice-Chancellor from 1960-1963. He was succeeded by Sir Philip Sherlock (a Jamaican and one of the UWI’s founding fathers) who served as Vice-Chancellor from 1963 to 1969. Sir Roy Marshall, a Barbadian was the next Vice-Chancellor serving from 1969 to 1974. He was succeeded by Dr Aston Zachariah Preston, a Jamaican, who died in office on June 24, 1986 having served from 1974.

The fifth Vice-Chancellor was Sir Alister McIntyre who served from 1988 to 1998 followed by alumnus and Professor Emeritus Rex Nettleford who served from 1998 to 2004. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor E. Nigel Harris.

Current enrollment across the three campuses is 36,000.

Professors Emeriti include Sir George Alleyne, Mervyn C. Alleyne, Sir Fitzroy Richard Augier, Compton D. Bourne, Wilfred R. Chan, Daphne R. Douglas, Sir John Simon Rawson Golding, Douglas Gordon Hawkins Hall, Keith Laurence, Woodville Marshall, Mervyn Morris, Sir Kenneth Stewart, and Dr Micheal Carter, among others.

Notable alumni

Eight of the regional Prime Ministers are graduates of the UWI. In addition, former UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor and St. Augustine Campus Principal, Professor Emeritus George Maxwell Richards is the current President of Trinidad and Tobago, and alumnus, former UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor and Mona Principal, Professor Emeritus Kenneth O. Hall was Governor-General of Jamaica.

• Vance Amory, former Premier of Nevis
• Kenny Anthony, former Prime Minister of St. Lucia
• Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados
• Nigel M. Baptiste, Executive Director of Republic Bank Limited
• Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize
• Neville Callam, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance
• Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
• David J. Dulal-Whiteway, Managing Director of Republic Bank Limited
• Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica
• Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Lisa Hanna, Jamaica, Miss World 1993, Member of Parliament
• Sir Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian economist, Nobel Laureate
• Pearlette Louisy, Governor-General of St. Lucia
• Imran Nazar Hosein, Former Trinidad and Tobago diplomat and Islamic Scholar
• Patrick Manning, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
• Reuben Meade, former Chief Minister of Montserrat
• Keith Mitchell, former Prime Minister of Grenada
• Percival Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica
• Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure
• Erskine Sandiford, former Prime Minister of Barbados
• Dennis Scott, Jamaican poet, playwright, and actor
• The Right Hon. Sir Kennedy Simmonds, first Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
• David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados
• Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
• Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian Poet, Nobel Laureate
• Gabrielle Walcott, second runner-up Miss World of Trinidad and Tobago
• Earl Williams, former Leader of the Opposition in Dominica

See also

	Jamaica portal
	University portal

• University of Guyana

External links

• University of the West Indies Official Web Site

Campus Websites

• Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
• Mona Campus, Jamaica
• St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago
• Western Jamaica Campus
• Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago
• Open Campus

Other Links

• Aerial view of Mona Campus
• List of Programmes offered through UWI
• The Cavite Chorale, One of the singing groups of the University of the West Indies
• UWI Student Mailing list

v • d • e List of universities and colleges in Jamaica Universities International University of the Caribbean · Mico University College · Northern Caribbean University · University College of The Caribbean · University of Technology · University of the West Indies Colleges College of Agriculture, Science and Education · Durham College of Commerce · Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts · G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sports · Hyacinth Chen Nursing School · Jamaica Theological Seminary · United Theological College of the West Indies Teacher training colleges Bethlehem Moravian College · Moneague College · Sam Sharpe Teachers College · Shortwood Teacher College Community colleges Catholic College of Mandeville · Knox Cobbla · Knox Mandeville · Knox May Pen · Knox Spalding Dental auxiliary school   Vocational training development institute   Vocational training centres   Human employment and resources training

Coordinates: 18°00′11″N 76°44′40″W / 18.0029784°N 76.744566°W / 18.0029784; -76.744566