For Release Upon Receipt - March 4, 2016
St. Augustine
2012 Honorary Graduate of The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine, Davan Maharaj, has been named editor-publisher at the Los Angeles Times. The announcement of Maharaj’s appointment was made by the LA Times on March 2, and indicated that he will act as the 16th publisher in the newspaper’s 134-year history, taking command of its business operations, including the reorganising efforts at the newspaper’s parent company, Tribune Publishing Co.
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI St. Augustine, Professor Clement Sankat extended congratulations to Maharaj on his appointment, noting that The UWI continues to support the excellence of nationals making strides both within the Caribbean and abroad. Maharaj has been Times editor since December 2011.
In an article published by the LA Times, Maharaj stated he was honoured to take on added responsibilities as a publisher, a role he said “will not diminish in the slightest my commitment to the integrity and independence of our news product.” Maharaj spoke about his desire to dispel gossip, to tell truth, and to tell truth to power as the reasons he got into journalism in the first place as Honorary Graduate and Guest Speaker at The UWI’s 2012 Faculty of Medical Sciences’ Graduation ceremony. During his tenure as editor, The Times won its 42nd and 43rd Pulitzer Prizes, as well as other journalism awards.
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About The UWI
Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. Website: 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.)
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