13th
Feburary 2010
UWI Open
Campus Tribute To Professor Rex Nettleford:
A Visionary Leader
Professor
Rex Nettleford holds a leather-bound copy of
the updated bibliography of his works given
to him by the former School of Continuing Studies,
now a Division within the UWI Open Campus, at
a function in 2004.
The death of Professor Ralston Milton ‘Rex
’ Nettleford, Vice Chancellor Emeritus
of the U WI on February 2, 2010 has resulted
in an irreparable void for the University of
the West Indies (UWI) and the people of the
extended Caribbean region. His outstanding work
in academics, education, teaching, the creative
arts, his extensive publications and his sterling
service on corporate, labour and cultural bodies
have had a significant impact at national, regional
and international levels and endeared him to
many people. However, to the staff and students
of the UWI Open Campus, he was family and our
champion.
Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Open
Campus, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald, expressed
her deep sadness at the news of his death which
occurred hours short of his 77th birthday. Speaking
of some of his contributions to the University
she said “He was one of the founding fathers
of the Extra Mural Department, a Director of
the School of Continuing Studies, a Co-Director
of the UWI Distance Teaching Enterprise with
Professor Gerald C. Lalor and he played an influential
role in the development of the Hugh Lawson Shearer
Trade Union Education Unit and other outreach
units which were recently integrated into the
UWI Open Campus. He continued to guide the works
of the Philip Sherlock Creative Arts Centre,
the Radio Education Unit and the journal, Caribbean
Quarterly, until the time of his death. He was
generous with his advice, gave me much guidance
and I benefited immensely from hi s wisdom.
”
Professor Nettleford’s mantra ‘the
tyranny of distance that is the geography of
the Caribbean region’ was inspired by
his experience of developing extra-mural education
for the UWI throughout the region. This was
an effort to which he was deeply committed and
to which he gave support throughout his tenure
at the UWI. He referred to his colleagues who
were engaged in extra-mural work as ‘intellectual
guerillas’ who sought to conquer this
tyranny through innovative teaching and technologies.
His story is one of humble beginnings in deep
rural Trelawny in Jamaica to the highest academic
position as Professor, Vice Chancellor and CEO
of the University of the West Indies. This was
a journey on which he gathered accolades and
awards including: Doctor of Laws, Illinois Wesleyan
University; Doctor of Letters, University of
Connecticut; Honorary Fellow of Oriel College,
Oxford; Doc tor of Laws, Queen’s University;
Doctor of Humanities, Emory University; Doctor
of Laws, Grand Valley State University; Doctor
of Letters, University of Sheffield; Doctor
of Letters, University of Toronto; and Doctor
of Civil Law, Oxford University. Oxford University
described him as “a man of the greatest
versatility , effective in action, outstanding
in erudition and most supple in dance”.
In recognition of hi s work in Cultural Studies,
Oxford established the Rex Nettleford Prize
for Cultural Studies.
The contribution of Professor Nettleford to
an understanding of and the development of Caribbean
culture, and specifically, the discipline of
Cultural Studies within the University led to
the signal homage of the dedication of a Conference
on Caribbean Culture in his honour. He has often
been referred to as a ‘Renaissance Man’
because of the range of his interests and the
depth and breadth of his intellectual work which
abounds with original ideas and continues to
be relevant and innovative. Upon his retirement
as the Vice Chancellor, the former School of
Continuing Studies worked with other Departments
of the UWI to organise a regional travelling
exhibition as a tribute to him and in honour
of his considerable contribution to the region.
The School also produced a two volume commemorative
edition of an annotated bibliography of his
works from 1950-2005. The bibliography lists
his published works which consist of 625 items,
his unpublished writing, made up largely of
128 lectures, and choreography comprising 71
items. In addition, as the School began its
transition into the Open Campus, it began the
preparation of the history of the U WI ’s
outreach/extra-mural sector to commemorate the
written history of the vision of its founding
fathers, including Sir Philip Sherlock and Professor
Rex Nettleford.
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