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The UWI pays tribute to former Lead Trustee of its British Foundation, Susan Belgrave

For Release Upon Receipt - March 4, 2020

UWI


The following tribute is issued by The University of the West Indies (The UWI) on the passing of Ms Susan L. Belgrave, former Lead Trustee of the British Foundation for The University of the West Indies (BFUWI). The funeral service for the late Susan Belgrave takes place on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 in London, UK.

Ms Susan L. Belgrave was a remarkable lady; a UWI alumna, esteemed Employment Barrister and Lead Trustee of the British Foundation for The University of the West Indies (BFUWI).

Since her appointment as a BFUWI Trustee in 2011, she enriched the charity foundation’s visibility and effectiveness through her dedicated and invaluable service. She worked tirelessly in the United Kingdom on behalf of The UWI, undertaking a mission to provide a link between the Caribbean diaspora in the UK and the West Indies. She was well known for often making personal sacrifices to ensure service excellence, which earned her the admiration of her colleagues as well as current Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.

In his personal tribute, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said, “Susan was a soldier in the battle to sustain Caribbean commitment to development and achievement. Not only as a colleague, but as my cousin, I could not have been more proud of the good causes to which she dedicated her love and life.”

A career switch in her earlier years, led Susan to study law at The UWI Cave Hill Campus. She was called to the Bar of England and Wales in July 1989 and enjoyed a legal career for more than 30 years, specialising in employment and discrimination law. Susan was described as a leading practitioner in her field by The Legal 500, a research, ranking and publishing firm based in the U.K., and was involved in some of the most significant discrimination cases over the years. Despite successive governments recalibrating employment law, either in favour of employees or employers, Susan’s objective was always to assist her clients and to make their litigation experience easier and more successful.

Susan’s caring personality was also demonstrated through her volunteerism. In addition to the core work of the BFUWI, she gave of her time on Saturday mornings at the Day Spring Learning Centre where she taught English and French to Afro-Caribbean students. The life, character and public service of the late Ms Susan L. Belgrave is acknowledged and celebrated by her UWI family. The UWI has lost a committed Pelican and supporter who will be greatly missed and extends deepest condolences to her family, friends and colleagues regionally and internationally.

 

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Photo caption: The late Ms Susan L. Belgrave, UWI alumna, esteemed Employment Barrister and Lead Trustee of the British Foundation for The University of the West Indies (BFUWI).

 

About The UWI

For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has 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 and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. 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; the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ); The UWI-University of Havana Centre for Sustainable Development with the University of Havana (UH) and the Canada-Caribbean Institute with Brock University.

 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. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018 and 2019. The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.  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 “The”, hence The UWI.) www.uwi.edu

 

 

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