Managing director of Capital and Credit, Ryland Campbell (centre), chats with general manager of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Eldon Bremner (left), and Professor Nigel Harris, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona. Mr. Bremner hosted a reception for Professor Harris last Friday night at the hotel in New Kingston. - WINSTON SILL / FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
HE HAS been in the job for nearly a year, and UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor E. Nigel Harris is loving every minute of it.
The veteran administrator and researcher told this to a small gathering at a reception hosted by general manager of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Eldon Bremner. Now, he wasn't throwing this party just because both men happen to be Guyanese. It was more because the UWI and the Pegasus have had a great relationship over the years.
Mr. Bremner boasted that many members of the hotel's managerial staff were alumni and pointed out that various interns in the hospitality and tourism industry had their start right there at the Pegasus.
Professor Harris said that after an especially hectic week, he asked himself if it was all worth it. The answer he gave was a resounding "Hell, yes, it is." Yes, after seeing the number of UWI graduates now serving the region with distinction. Yes, when looking at the calibre of the recently appointed professors. Yes, after talking to current undergraduates who are willing to take on the challenge of integrating the region.
Professor Harris forthrightly stated that he was never one to be satisfied with second best, and vowed his continued participation in making the UWI the best in the areas of education and research. He acknowledged that there will be challenges but called for partnerships to assist the building of a thriving, robust Caribbean.
INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN
Professor Harris was previously Dean and Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. He is internationally known for his work as a rheumatologist. Perhaps his greatest work came when, along with colleagues, he defined a disorder which they called Antiphospholipid Syndrome, where the immune system produces antibodies that harm the body instead of aiding it.
Among the small gathering who turned out were Lloyd Distant; Drs. Trevor and Velma Hamilton; Professor the Hon. Rex Nettleford; Honorary Consul of Guyana Indera Persaud; Honorary Consul of Barbados Winston Bayley; Allison Peart; R. Danny Williams; Earl Jarrett and Lystra Sharpe.
