January 2011


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Suzanne de Passe

A Marley and an Emmy

AFUWI award for first female

At the American Foundation for The University of the West Indies (AFUWI) 14th Annual Legacy Awards Gala on January 26, Suzanne de Passe, Emmy Award winner received the Bob Marley Award.

The AFUWI Legacy Awards Gala is the premier fundraising event for The University of the West Indies (UWI) in the United States and seeks to raise funds to support scholarship programmes at UWI. Legacy Awards are conferred on individuals who represent high levels of achievement within their respective fields of industry and enterprise.

The Bob Marley Award is granted to individuals whose contribution to the advancement of arts and culture transcends boundaries of race, color, creed and geographies, uniting people throughout the world in a spirit that embodies the essence of the music and lyrics of the Hon. Robert Nesta Marley, OM.

Suzanne de Passe began her career with Motown, discovering Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5, Lionel Richie and the Commodores, and others. Currently, Suzanne and her business partner, Madison Jones, are producing with Steven Spielberg, a motion picture on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for DreamWorks. She has earned an Academy Award Nomination for co-writing “Lady Sings the Blues” and three Peabody Awards and a Golden Globe for the mini-series “Lonesome Dove.” She was Executive Producer for the sitcoms “Sister Sister” and “Smart Guy” for The WB Network. She has won two Emmy Awards and her productions have earned over 30 Emmy nominations. She is the subject of two Harvard Business School Case Studies and received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Howard University.

President of Verizon Foundation Patrick Gaston received the AFUWI Special Award in recognition of his outstanding professional accomplishments, and his dedicated service and commitment to the AFUWI. Honorees in the Caribbean Luminary category included Michelle Johnson, MD of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Ambassador Carlton Masters, Chief Executive Officer of GoodWorks International; Kaye Foster-Cheek of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Yolanda Lezama-Clark, who was to accept a posthumous award on behalf of her father Carlos Lezama, “The Father of Brooklyn’s Carnival.” Brenda Blackmon, co-anchor of My9 News, WWOR TV, along with Jamaican artist Michael Escoffrey and Jeanine Liburd of BET Networks received the Vice Chancellor’s Award.