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The UWI mourns the passing of Dr. Hugh Sealy

For Release Upon Receipt - March 21, 2022

UWI


The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica W.I. Sunday, March 21, 2022— “Dr. Hugh Sealy served our University and Caribbean region with distinction. He put his mind and heart into tackling the climate crisis facing the Caribbean. His teaching, research, scholarly publications, and expert contributions to technical advisory boards reflected his passion and commitment to both advancing the science on climate change issues faced by small states of the Caribbean. He also shared his knowledge and expertise with younger generations. The UWI family feels a tremendous loss.”  This, according to Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, as he expressed the University community’s sadness at the sudden loss of Dr. Hugh Sealy, who died on March 18, 2022. 

Lecturer on climate change and water resources management at The UWI’s Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at its Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, Dr. Sealy nurtured young minds—teaching in the areas of Climate change impacts: Adaptation & mitigation, Policy response to climate change, Water and wastewater management, Water management and the environment, and Field studies skill. Dr. Hugh Sealy was also a notable consultant, project manager, professional engineer, environmental scientist, and most recently led technical advisory support at Glasgow’s COP26. 

In these landmark global climate summit discussions, The UWI scientist anchored the Barbados delegation, providing technical advisory support, as the technical lead of the Barbados delegation and lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). He championed AOSIS positions on matters related to raising the mitigation ambition of all countries to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius and was a co-facilitator of the negotiations under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.  

In recognition of his work at CERMES, Dr. Sealy was also selected to serve on the Management Committee for The UWI’s flagship Global Institute for Climate Smart and Resilient Development.  This first-of-its-kind virtual UWI climate hub for the Caribbean, harnesses The UWI’s research and teaching on climate change, disaster risk reduction, resilience and sustainable development and was launched in October 2021. 

Commenting on Dr. Sealy’s invaluable contributions, Pro Vice-Chancellor Global Affairs, Dr. Stacy Kennedy said, “We are all deeply saddened and will miss our dear colleague. Dr. Sealy was committed to the vision of a one-UWI approach to advancing climate action and was steadfast in his dedicated contributions to the success of our Global Climate-Smart Institute.  He was always very willing to share his knowledge and experience leading climate negotiations at the international level and to build awareness of the multiple vulnerabilities of Caribbean SIDS as well as the need for urgent action by global players.”

 Dr Sealy’s life’s work superbly intersected the spheres of civil service, private sector and academia. He earned his first degree in chemical engineering from McGill University (Canada) and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Brunel University (UK) and the University of Liverpool (UK) respectively. He also served as Director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Track in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine at St. George’s University in Grenada, worked for Intel (Barbados. Ltd.), was the regional manager for Stantec (a large Canada-based engineering firm) and Managing Director of New Water Inc., a firm specialising in wastewater treatment technology; and was a Past President of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association. 

The UWI community extends deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Dr. Hugh Sealy. 

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About The University of the West Indies

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.

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global 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 its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The UWI offers over 800 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 our region and wider world.

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%.

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s 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 Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

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.)

 

 

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