Seven staff members and one department will be honoured at this year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence. One of the highlights on the University’s calendar, the Awards recognise high achievement by academic, senior administrative and professional personnel throughout the regional university. The 2020/2021 Awards, which marks the 28th year, will be held virtually—similar to last year’s ceremony—due to regional COVID-19 restrictions and protocols, and will take the total number of awardees to 161. It takes place on November 25, 2021 and will be broadcast via UWItv.                                                                      

This highly anticipated annual event is a celebration of the University’s core values, and the recipients of these prestigious awards are persons who have proven themselves exemplars of The UWI’s commitment to the pursuit of excellence. The awardees are peer-nominated and selected following a rigorous assessment process, first at the campus level, then by a university-wide selection committee for the final selection.

Professor Tannecia Stephenson, Head of the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology at the Mona Campus will receive this year’s award for Research Accomplishments, while the award for Teaching Excellence will be presented to Dr Venkateswara Penugonda, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science and Technology, also from the Mona Campus. Three awards for service excellence to the University community will be given to Ms. Allison Fung, Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, based at the Regional Headquarters in Jamaica, Dr Heather Ricketts, Deputy Dean in the Department of Social Sciences at Mona, together with Mr. Compton Beecher, Chief Forensic DNA Analyst in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, also from Mona. Ms. Cynthia Barrows-Giles, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government, Sociology and Social Work in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Cave Hill Campus will be recognised for her contribution to Public Service, while Professor Marshall Tulloch-Reid, Director of the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR) at Mona will be awarded for All-Round Excellence in Research and Public Service, and a Departmental Award will be given to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Mona Campus.