News Releases

Feature Release & Photos : Ryan Recalls and Retires with Launch of Memoirs

For Release Upon Receipt - November 13, 2019

St. Augustine


The nostalgic scene was set at the St. Augustine Campus of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) on the afternoon of October 30, 2019. The gathering included family and a cross section of friends – academics, media and politicians – who reflected on the many roles played by the man they had come to honour.

Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan had chosen the location carefully, his “home away from home” he called it and therefore a fitting place to say thank you to all those persons who had encouraged and supported him through the decades. Ostensibly, though, the occasion was a launch of his newest book, Ryan Recalls – Selwyn Ryan: His Memoirs.

Held at the School of Education Auditorium, the event was hosted by The UWI St Augustine’s Alma Jordan Library (AJL) and also celebrated the launch of the Selwyn Ryan Collection. This is a collection of manuscripts, correspondence and scrapbooks donated by the professor to the university to be used as research material for students and younger academics.

Over his prolific career as a researcher and writer, Professor Ryan has written newspaper columns, academic papers and articles for journals, documenting exciting moments of the contemporary political history of Trinidad and Tobago and the region. “Along the journey, I met many interesting personalities and I tried to tell my story in a simple manner so that it could be read by readers at all levels.   This Collection brings together some of the many papers and photographs found amongst the boxes and files of my work over the years,” he said.

Ryan sought to make the book more interesting by mixing the ingredients and deliberately bringing “a different lens, style or formula.” Gangs, polling, governance and constitutional reform are some of the issues addressed. 

Professor Ryan explained that the idea for a memoir germinated after his daughter remarked that he wrote about everyone except himself.  “I began seriously thinking about my memoirs just after the launch of my last book in September 2016 when I first began to suspect that something was amiss with my health and began writing it then.”

Among the speakers at the launch were Faculty of Law Dean Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, who was acting Campus Principal at the time; former Campus Principal, President of the Caribbean Development Bank and renowned regional academic Professor Emeritus Compton Bourne; and Senior Librarian and Head of the AJL’s West Indiana and Special Collections Division Dr Glenroy Taitt.

Dr Roy McCree, Senior Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at The UWI St Augustine (SALISES) and editor of the memoir, also spoke. Professor Ryan’s wife, Jan Ryan, addressed the audience on his behalf. 

The collection draws from Professor Ryan’s early life, at home and abroad, and includes papers and columns on political issues and manuscripts. He remarked:

 

“I consider it my final book and want to give thanks to The UWI family for the times we have spent together in conferences, panel discussions, participation in journals, commissions, reports, setting and correcting papers, and many other activities, including partying and friendly arguments at the Senior Common Room, which unfortunately no longer exists…”

Among the manuscripts are The First Citizens Bank Story; Dr. Eric Williams: The Making of a Prime Minister; From Colonial to Republic: A History of Barclays Bank in Trinidad and Tobago from 1837-1981; and Conversations with Gerard Montano, former Cabinet Minister. The collection also highlights issues on Africa, milestones and cherished moments.

As he bows to retirement, Ryan shared his one fervent wish and word of advice, that “Younger academics may pick up where I left off and continue the discourse.  An academic’s work is never finished. I urge the younger ones to write, and record our history. Never compromise on what is right.”

 

End

 

Notes to Editor

 

Photo Captions

Photo 1 Prime Minister Dr. the Hon Keith Rowley congratulates Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan on the publication of his new book ‘Ryan Recalls’ at The UWI St. Augustine Campus

Photo 2 Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan presents a copy of his new book ‘Ryan Recalls’ to Prime Minister Dr. the Hon Keith Rowley at the School of Education, The UWI St. Augustine Campus

Photo 3 Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan and his wife Mrs Jan Ryan at the launch of his new book ‘Ryan Recalls’ at The UWI St. Augustine Campus

 Photo 4 Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan displays his new book ‘Ryan Recalls’ at The UWI St. Augustine Campus

Photo 5 Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan shares a light moment with Minister of Trade and Industry The Hon. Paula Gopee-Scoon at the launch of his new book ‘Ryan Recalls’ at The UWI St. Augustine Campus

Photo 6 Professor Emeritus Selwyn Ryan and his wife Jan chat with Dr Tim Gopeesingh, MP Caroni East at the launch of his new book ‘Ryan Recalls’ at The UWI St. Augustine Campus 

To view or download high resolution versions of the attached and additional photographs from the book launch please visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theuwi/albums/72157711681752732

 

Photos should be credited to: The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus

 

About The UWI

For more than 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students across five campuses: Cave Hill in Barbados; Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda; Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago; and an Open Campus. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018 and 2019. The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.

As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

 

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

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