News Releases

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles Receives Honorary Doctorate from NWU

For Release Upon Receipt - August 4, 2025

UWI


The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. W.I. Thursday, July 31, 2025—On Wednesday, July 30, North-West University (NWU) in South Africa conferred an honorary doctorate on Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI). The award recognises Vice-Chancellor Beckles’ formidable academic contributions and his global advocacy for social justice.

 On the evening before the ceremony, he delivered a public lecture titled From Durban to Accra: Rise of the Global Reparations Movement.

 The honorary doctorate, a Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in History, from the NWU’s Faculty of Humanities, stands as a testament to Vice-Chancellor Beckles’ lifelong effort to use History as a tool for healing and reform. Vice-Chancellor Beckles described the honorary doctorate as a deeply personal honour.

 

 Professor Sir Hilary Beckles beams with pride after receiving his honorary doctorate from North-West University.

 “This feels like a validation of my life’s work,” he said. “As a teenager in the UK, I was actively involved in the anti-apartheid and Free Nelson Mandela campaigns. I’ve always been philosophically opposed to injustice. I’m a humanist, and I believe in humanity at its best.”

 Vice-Chancellor Beckles recalled meeting Steve Biko in Zambia as a student. “I expressed concern for his safety, and he told me that if I ever had a son, I might name him after him. He lost his life, and I honoured that legacy. My son’s name is Biko.”

 Reflecting on the honorary doctorate, he added, “To be here, decades later, nearing the end of my career, it means everything. It fills me with joy and gratitude.”

 Professor Bismark Tyobeka, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the NWU stated, “We are honoured to have conferred an honorary doctorate upon Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, a distinguished scholar and public intellectual whose life’s work is a masterclass in using academic inquiry as a force for societal transformation. As Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, and chairman of the United Nations University, to name but a few roles, Vice-Chancellor Beckles has brought academia to the service of justice, championing reparatory redress as both a moral imperative and an economic necessity.”

 End 

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 for the past 75 years.

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 Global Campus, and 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). 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 in the World University Rankings, it is also in the top 25 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. In 2024, The UWI launched a first-of-its-kind global online graduate business school focused on leadership within the context of supporting the SDGs.

Learn more at www.uwi.edu  

  

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