The University of the West Indies (UWI) will honor former St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves by dedicating a research scope focused on development, sovereignty and education to his six decades of service, scholarship and political leadership across the Caribbean.
The initiative is part of a new Centre for Public Policy and Governance at UWI’s Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. Cave Hill Principal Professor R. Clive Landis announced the decision during the Fifth Distinguished Owen S. Arthur Memorial Lecture on October 2, where Gonsalves was the featured speaker. UWI’s University Council approved the establishment of the center at its April 17 meeting.
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Gonsalves, 80, served as prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 2001 to 2025 and has led the Unity Labour Party since 2001. He is now the country’s Leader of the Opposition after the ULP lost the November 2025 general election to the New Democratic Party, led by Dr. Godwin Friday.
The former prime minister has a longstanding academic relationship with UWI. He graduated with distinction in economics from the Mona Campus in 1969, later earned a master’s degree in government from the university and returned as a lecturer in political science, teaching at both the Mona and Cave Hill campuses. He earned his PhD in government from the University of Manchester in 1974.
Gonsalves also has a legal background, having been called to the bar at Gray’s Inn in London in 1981. His academic and public work has included Caribbean politics, political economy, development, regional integration and sovereignty, themes that will inform the research scope being established in his honor.
Landis said Gonsalves had specifically requested that no building or center be named after him. The university therefore chose to establish a research focus reflecting areas associated with his longstanding academic interests, including development, sovereignty and education.
The Owen S. Arthur Memorial Lecture will serve as the inaugural entry in the body of research to be conducted through the Centre for Public Policy and Governance. Gonsalves used this year’s lecture to call for a more decisive approach to Caribbean integration, arguing that weak implementation, administrative inertia and outdated governance structures continue to hinder CARICOM’s progress.
The initiative adds to UWI’s longstanding practice of recognizing Caribbean leaders and scholars whose work has influenced regional development. In Gonsalves’ case, the university is linking the honor directly to research and intellectual inquiry into issues that have featured prominently throughout his academic and political career.
