Regional
Headquarters, Jamaica. Friday, November 29, 2019—The
University of the West Indies (The UWI) is pleased to announce that
it has re-conferred the title of Honorary Distinguished Fellow on the
Honourable Bruce Golding, former Prime Minister of Jamaica and Mona
Campus alumnus, for another five years from November 11, 2019.

Mr Golding first
received this honorary appointment in 2014. He has been an engaged
and active participant in university life. His contributions to
university discourse in Caribbean integration and the challenges
facing CARICOM have served to enlighten students and professors
alike. His offering of advice to university administrators in the
areas of the future financing of the University, and the
repositioning of the academy in the economy of the region has been
invaluable. The University is honoured to have Mr Golding as an
active member of its community.

Furthermore, he
will contribute to University life in the academic arena, in
particular giving guest lectures and seminars, and assisting students
and Faculty in conducting research in various spheres of study. He
will continue to lend his expertise and network to developing vital
linkages between the public and private sectors, with a view to
identifying and promoting practical areas for dynamic collaboration.

Similar
appointments have been conferred on former Prime Ministers, such as
Sir Erskine Sandiford and the Right Honourable Owen Arthur at the
Cave Hill Campus in Barbados, and the Most Honourable Portia
Simpson-Miller at the Mona Campus in Jamaica.

Mr Golding is
committed to strengthening linkages between research and policy so
that the latest research findings can be reflected in high level
policy discussions and made available to decision-makers within the
region.

Honourable Bruce Golding

Orette
Bruce Golding was born on December 5, 1947 in Ginger Ridge, St.
Catherine. He received his high school education at St. George’s
College and Jamaica College and a BSc degree in economics from The
University of the West Indies in 1969. He was first elected to
Parliament in 1972 at the age of 24 and served for 25 years as a
Member of Parliament and 10 years as a Senator. Mr. Golding served as
General Secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party 1974-1984 and Chairman
1984-1995 and 2003-2005. In 2005 he was elected leader of the Jamaica
Labour Party and led the party to victory in the general elections in
2007. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on September 11, 2007 and
served until his resignation and retirement in 2011. During his long
period of public service, Mr. Golding has held various positions:
Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign
Affairs & Foreign Trade, Chairman of the Public Accounts
Committee, Leader of the Opposition, Member of the Board of Governors
of the Institute of Jamaica, Member of the Electoral Advisory
Committee (now the Electoral Commission of Jamaica), Member of the
Board of the National Lotteries Commission, Minister of Construction.
At the international level he served as Vice-Chairman of the United
Nations Commission on Human Settlements (1982-1985) and Chairman
(1985-1986). Within CARICOM, he was assigned responsibility for
External Negotiations and served as chairman in 2010. In 2016, he
chaired a special commission that reviewed Jamaica’s relations with
CARICOM and within CARIFORUM. He was a member of an international
team of experts deployed in South Africa to assist in preparing that
country for its first post-apartheid elections in 1994. He led
Commonwealth Observer Missions to monitor elections in the Republic
of the Maldives in 2014 and 2019. Mr. Golding retired from politics
in October 2011 and served as an Honorary Distinguished Fellow at The
University of the West Indies 2014-2019 where he was engaged in
developmental research in the field of public policy management. He
has been married for 47 years and he and his wife Lorna have one son,
two daughters and six grandchildren.

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, and Africa
including the State
University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and
Sustainable Development;
the Canada-Caribbean Studies 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 and the
Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of
Johannesburg (UJ).
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 and 2019. The UWI has been the only
Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more,
visit www.uwi.edu.