(Jamaica Gleaner) Dr Dodridge Miller has been appointed Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI).
Miller will be the institution’s seventh chancellor, the highest office-holder in The UWI system.
Miller, who will succeed Robert Bermudez who has served as Chancellor since 2017, is expected to serve a seven-year term beginning August 1.
The decision was taken at a virtual annual business meeting of members of the University Council on Friday.
“Miller, a graduate of The UWI, is a Caribbean luminary with over 30 years of leadership experience in the banking, insurance, and financial services sectors,” The UWI said in making the announcement.
He was the Group President and Chief Executive Officer of Sagicor Financial Company for more than two decades until he retired in March 2023.
Miller is globally recognised as the chief architect of Sagicor Financial, the largest financial services conglomerate in the region. He is credited with transforming the old Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Society into the Sagicor Caribbean group.
He holds an MBA from the University of Wales and the Manchester Business School, and an LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law from The UWI, where he also served as a member of the Cave Hill Campus Council.
He has received several honours in his career, including the Order of Freedom of Barbados (FB), and from The UWI, an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2008 and the award of the title, Professor of Practice in 2019.
“As chancellor, I will strive to uphold the strong principles and values of the university, and with your guidance and support hope to contribute to the very important task of fashioning a Caribbean that is sustainable and that can engage the rest of the world on equal terms. I look forward to being a part of The UWI’s journey towards the continued development of our region. I am honoured,” Miller said upon confirmation of his appointment.
In extending congratulations, Chancellor Bermudez said, “I am delighted to welcome Dr Miller as Chancellor-Designate. It is my belief that the university will benefit from his experience and contribution.”
Offering further details on the process, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, who chaired the Search Committee that recommended Dr Miller for the post, noted that, “Dr the Most Honourable Dodridge Miller is an eminent corporate transformational leader who possesses all the required skills to make an outstanding chancellor to his alma mater. The university community that knows him well is looking forward to working with him in this new role.”
The council also applauded Bermudez for his outstanding leadership over the past seven years.
THE UWI A PIVOTAL FORCE
The council of The UWI consists of the university’s current chancellor, vice-chancellor, the pro vice-chancellors, chairs of campus councils, campus principals, university registrar, university bursar, university librarian, treasurer, chair of the committee of deans, academic board representative, graduate elected by The UWI Alumni Association, appointed member of government from each contributing country, chancellor’s nominees – persons of high international, regional or national standing from the professions, commerce, industry, public service, labour movement and other non-governmental organisations, tertiary level institution representative, non-campus country representative, senior administrative/professional staff representative, administrative, technical and service staff representative and Student Guild representative.
The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development, residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region for over 75 years.
From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with nearly 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 its Global Campus, and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The UWI offers over 1,000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of the Caribbean region and the wider world.
The UWI has been consistently ranked among the best in the world by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). Since The UWI’s 2018 debut in THE’s rankings, it has performed well in multiple schemes – including World University Rankings, Golden Age University Rankings (between 50 and 80 years old), Latin America Rankings, and the Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including good health and well-being; gender equality and climate action.