Office
of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Barbados. October 16, 2019
– On
Saturday, October 12, 2019, three distinguished alumni of The
University of the West Indies were conferred with the prestigious
Pelican Award. The Awards were presented at The University of the
West Indies Alumni Association (UWIAA) Open Campus Alumni Chapters
annual Pelican Awards Ceremony held at
Government House in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda.

This
year’s recipients of the Pelican
Awards are His Excellency the Governor-General of Antigua and
Barbuda, Sir Rodney Errey Lawrence Williams; former UWI Pro
Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Gerald Alastair Clarence Grell of Dominica; and Reverend
William Wilberforce Watty, Methodist Presbyter also of Dominica.

Sir
Rodney Williams

Sir
Rodney Williams received his MBBS
Degree in Medicine and Surgery from The University of the West Indies
(The UWI), in 1976. As a student at The UWI, Sir Rodney served as the
Class
Representative of the Medical Class of ‘76 on the Medical Faculty
Board. From 1978, after
completing his Internship at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Barbados, Sir Rodney Williams returned to Antigua and Barbuda and
worked at the Holberton Hospital before his appointment as a District
Medical Officer and the establishment of his private practice.

Sir
Rodney has had an illustrious career in the public service starting
in 1984 when he entered politics to become a Member of Parliament and
then served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. Sir
Rodney's political career continued with several successive
ministerial appointments. Beginning in 1986 when Prime Minister V C
Bird Sr. gave him his initial appointment as Minister of Economic
Development, Industry and Tourism. Sir Rodney served Prime Minister
Lester Bird’s Cabinet as Minister of Education, Sports, Youth and
Community Development (1989-94), Minister of Tourism, Culture and
Environment (1994-99), and as Minister of Education, Culture and
Technology (1999-2004).

While
serving as Education Minister, Sir Rodney had the distinction of
serving on The Council of The UWI. This role was a special one since
in this appointment, he succeeded his father in the role on the
Council, making it the first father and son duo to serve in this
capacity. He
attended the Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992 and his paper was
accepted as the main for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). While
Sir Rodney served as the Minister with responsibility for the
Environment, he was appointed as Deputy
Chair of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. He also
chaired several sessions on Sustainable Development at the United
Nations.

Sir
Rodney Williams was appointed as Governor General of Antigua and
Barbuda in August 2014. His Excellency’s appointments by the Queen
as a Knight Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George and as a Knight
of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem
were announced in the London Gazette on October 17, 2014 and December
22, 2014 respectively.

In
2016, in recognition for his outstanding achievements as an UWI
Alumni, His Excellency was appointed as a Patron of The UWI Global
Giving Week.

Sir
Rodney Williams has recorded an impressive portfolio of achievements
and contributions in the fields of Sports Medicine, Aviation Medicine
and community service.

Professor
Gerald Alastair Clarence Grell

Professor
Gerald Alastair Clarence Grell,
born in Dominica, a Cardiologist
by profession and former UWI Pro Vice-Chancellor, graduated from The
University of the West Indies in 1967 with a Bachelor
of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, MBBS. (Hons). He was elected
as the first President of The UWI Medical Alumni, Jamaican Chapter,
for the period 1987–1989.
He has served in many capacities including Lecturer in Medicine and
Consultant Physician from 1977-1980, Associate Dean, Professor of
Medicine, Medical Director of the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH),
Pro
Vice-Chancellor, UWI and Director, Office of University Services
(OUS), UWI, Barbados.

He
has contributed immensely to the Caribbean region in his work in
academia. He has also given numerous years of service to the
Dominican community through his profession as a Cardiologist. Dr
Grell has developed a Central National ECHOCARDIOGRAM referral
service as a solo Cardiologist at PMH, supported by visits from Dr
Richard Ishmael (Barbados) and Dr Jocelyn Inamo (Martinique). To
date he has written two books namely: The
Elderly in the Caribbean and
The
University of the West Indies and the Eastern Caribbean,
five chapters in books, contributed to 83 scientific journals and
periodicals and presented 54 abstracts and papers at scientific
meetings. Professor Grell, has contributed extensively to the
Caribbean, the University and his community.

William
Wilberforce Watty

William
Wilberforce Watty,
affectionately
known as Reverend William Watty of Portsmouth Dominica is a Methodist
Presbyter. Reverend Watty attended The University
of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados from 2005-2010. Upon
graduation he was awarded the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy (PhD) in Theology.

He
started his career as a civil servant in 1955, but quickly rose to
other positions such as that of Acting Principal, Virgin Islands
Secondary School, Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Senior Methodist
Tutor, Lecturer in Old Testament Language and Literature, Church
History, United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI),
Kingston, Jamaica; Superintendent Minister, Roseau and the Dominica
Circuit, Methodist
Church in the Caribbean and Americas (MCCA).

He has
served in many capacities across the Caribbean in countries such as
the British Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and his
native, Dominica. He has written three publications namely Awakening
to Wider Horizons,
From
Shore to Shore: Soundings in Caribbean Theology in 1981;
and The
Nathan Narrative in 2 Samuel 7:1-17: A Tradition-historical Study in
2016.
Reverend Watty is the Founder
of the Student Christian Movement in Trinidad in 1965 and was a lay
member of the Silk Advisory Committee.

Organised
by the collective chapters of The UWI Alumni Association (UWIAA), the
Pelican Award is the highest award that a UWIAA Chapter may bestow on
a graduate. This Award is made to graduates of The UWI who have made
significant contributions to their communities, the development of
the University and the Caribbean.

The
collective Chapters of The UWI Open Campus congratulate the 2019
Pelican Awardees and wish them success as they continue to serve with
excellence and show their “Pelican Pride.”

Photo
Caption:

Left
to right: Campus Officer for Alumni Relations, Mrs Sandra
Griffith-Carrington, President,
Alumni
Chapter,
Antigua and Barbuda, Ms Ruthlyn Matthias, Vice Chancellor, Professor
Sir Hilary Beckles, Pelican Awardees, Professor Gerald Alastair
Clarence Grell and Sir Rodney Williams, Chancellor, Mr Robert
Bermudez, Director of Alumni Relations, UWI, Mrs Celia
Davidson-Francis and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Open Campus,
Dr Luz Longsworth.

About
The UWI Alumni Association (UWIAA)

The
primary purpose of the Alumni Chapters is to foster and maintain
contact among graduates of the University, encourage a closer bond of
affinity and commitment to the University and engage in fundraising
and other activities to enhance the development of the University.

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 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.

(Please
note that the proper name of the university is The University of the
West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)