Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur has been conferred with the title of Professor of Practice: Economics of Development by the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
The appointment, which it took effect at the start of this month, was confirmed at the University Appointments Committee meeting in October.
The information was made public during an Alumni Symposium hosted by Cave Hill as part of celebrations marking the university’s 70th anniversary.
An appreciative Arthur thanked the university for the acknowledgement.
“I never set out in life to be a prime minister,” he said, noting that one of the conditions under which his first wife agreed to relocate to Barbados from Jamaica was that he would never get involved in politics.
In his usual tongue-in-cheek style, the statesman then proceeded to say there is only one thing left for him to accomplish.
“My ambition in life which has not yet been fulfilled [and] . . . I would rather have been that than be a prime minister or university professor and that ambition was to be a West Indies opening batsman,” he said, to loud laughter from the audience.
“Let the word go forward that I’m still available and having regard to the very low bar over which I have to jump given the performance of the present team, then I do not believe that the West Indies Cricket Team should frustrate the only remaining ambition that I have.”
Arthur is the third person to be appointed Professor of Practice at The UWI Cave Hill, following similar conferral on CEO at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr Dexter James and former banking professional Ian DeSouza.
With this title, he will deliver guest lectures in economics and related fields, as well as present public lectures, a release from the campus stated.
He will also assist with research projects and interface with international agencies on behalf of the Department of Economics and the campus. Professor Arthur’s appointment will also see him providing mentorship to students of economics, as well as the Young Economists Association.
Arthur, a noted economist, is Barbados’ fifth and longest-serving Prime Minister and an alumnus of The UWI Cave Hill and Mona Campuses. He also served as a Research Fellow at The UWI’s Institute of Social and Economics Research in 1982.
Professors of Practice are eligible to the use of the title Professor for as long as they remain in active association with The UWI, the campus added in its statement. (WILLCOMM)
