News Releases

UWI Vice-Chancellor to be honoured by University of St Andrews, Scotland

For Release Upon Receipt - June 13, 2013

UWI


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – Vice Chancellor Professor E. Nigel Harris will be conferred with an honorary doctorate degree on the occasion of the 600th Anniversary of the University of St Andrews on September 14, 2013.  The honorary doctorate is being conferred in recognition of Professor Harris’ accomplishments in medicine and in recognition of the relationship between the University of St Andrews and the University College of the West Indies at the time of the founding of this institution.  Sir James Irvine, Vice Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, led the UK appointed Commission that recommended the creation of The University of the West Indies (initially in 1948 as a College of the University of London) and many elements of The UWI have been modelled on St Andrews. 

Professor Harris is best known internationally for his description of an unusual disorder of clotting and pregnancy losses that he and his colleagues – Professor Graham Hughes and Aziz Gharavi – called the “Anti-phospholipid Syndrome”.  They devised the test for the disorder – the anti-cardiolipin test, developed calibrators for the test (often referred to as “Harris standards”), and did considerable work on characterising these unique antibodies.  Later, with another colleague, Professor Silvia Pierangeli, they developed a modified test for the disorder – now marketed under the Louisville APhL test – and devised a mouse model for the disorder that enabled studies of how the antibodies might cause thrombosis.  The field of anti-phospolipid antibodies attracted worldwide attention and since 1974 there have been biennial international symposia on the subject, the next planned for Sao Paulo (Brazil) in September 2013. 

For his work in this field, Professor Harris along with colleagues Graham Hughes, Aziz Gharavi and others, was awarded the CIBA-GEIGY Prize by the International League against Rheumatism (1990).  He received the centennial award for his work in medicine by the National Medical Association, USA; a Caribbean Health Research Council (CCHRC) Award for achievements in medical research, and in 2012 he was elected a Master of the American College of Rheumatology.  In his capacity as Vice Chancellor, he is currently Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (which has a membership of 530 universities in the Commonwealth), President of the Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes (UNICA) and a member of the administrative board of the International Association of Universities (IAU).  He also serves as Chair of the Caribbean Examinations Council.

On September 14, the day following the graduation ceremony, St Andrews University will host a panel on “the future of Universities” at which Professor Harris will be one of the guest speakers.  Other panellists will include Professor Derek Bok (former President, Harvard University), Professor Peter Mandel (Professor of Cultural History, University of Cambridge) and Professor Louise Richardson (Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of St Andrews).  

End   

About THE UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with 45 physical site locations across the region, serving 16 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Food & Agriculture, and Social Sciences. 

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

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news

Contact