Education
Born in Barbados, 1955, Hilary Beckles started his education at Black Bess Primary School, Barbados. In 1965, Hilary initially attended his secondary school at Coleridge and Parry Secondary School in Barbados and completed it at Pitmaston Secondary School in Birmingham, England, where he subsequently joined Bournville College of Further Education for his college studies. Between 1973-1976, Hilary eventually completed a BA (Hons) in Economic and Social History from the University of Hull. He then progressed to PhD in the same field with the University of Hull between 1976-1980. On this matter, the British Foundation for the University of the West Indies claims on their Website that:
Sir Hilary received his higher education in the United Kingdom and graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Economic and Social History from Hull University in 1976, and a PhD from the same university in 1980. He has received numerous awards including Honorary Doctor of Letters from Brock University, the University of Glasgow, University of Hull, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in recognition of his major contribution to academic research into transatlantic slavery, popular culture, and sport. He is an editor of the UNESCO General History of Africa series. Sir Hilary was made a Commander Knight of St Andrew (KA), Barbados’s highest honour, in recognition of his distinguished service in the field of education in particular at university level and his dedication to the furtherance of the arts and sports in particular cricket.
Career
Before assuming the office of Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies on May 1, 2015, Hilary was Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados for thirteen years (2002 – 2015). Between 1998 and 2002, he was Pro-Vice Chancellor for the University of the West Indies and Chairman, Board for Undergraduate Studies. Sir Hilary was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities for four years. He was Chairman of the Department of History between 1992-1996. Sir Hilary has been a Professor of Economic and Social History since 1991.
Sir Hilary has lectured extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and has published more than ten academic books including Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations for Slavery in the Caribbean (2013); Centering Woman: Gender Discourses in Caribbean Slave Society (1999); White Servitude and Black Slavery in Barbados 1627-1715 (1990); The History of Barbados (1990); Natural Rebels: A History of Enslaved Black Women in the Caribbean (1989); The Development of West Indies Cricket: Volume One, The Age of Nationalism; and Volume Two, The Age of Globalisation, (1999); A Nation Imagined: The First West Indies Test Team: The 1928 Tour(2003). He is Chairman of the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] Commission on Reparation and Social Justice.
He is considered as one of a distinguished university administrator, economic historian and specialist in higher education and development thinking and practice; he is also internationally known as a great historian. He is the main author of The Brain Train: Tertiary Education Thinking and Planning in the Caribbean (2002). So far, Sir Hilary is Vice President of the International Task Force for the UNESCO Slave Route Project; a consultant for the UNESCO Cities for Peace Global Programme; an advisor to the UN World Culture Report; and member of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, Science Advisory Board on sustainable development. He is also a director of Sagicor Financial Corporation PLC, the largest financial company in the region, and of Cable and Wireless Ltd as well as chairman of The University of the West Indies Press.
A Hull Education
The University of Hull credited him in its website as one of its Distinguished Graduates:
In 2007, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles was made a Knight of St. Andrew, the highest national honour in Barbados, for his contribution to “Higher Education, the Arts, and Sports”. In 2009 he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in recognition of his meritorious and distinguished lifetime achievements, public service and contribution to the world of learning and higher education. In August 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow in recognition of the major contribution he has made to academic research into the transatlantic slave trade and plantation slavery.
Professor Sir Hilary has lectured at universities in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and has published more than ten academic books, including:
Born in Barbados, 1955, Hilary Beckles started his education at Black Bess Primary School, Barbados. In 1965, Hilary initially attended his secondary school at Coleridge and Parry Secondary School in Barbados and completed it at Pitmaston Secondary School in Birmingham, England, where he subsequently joined Bournville College of Further Education for his college studies. Between 1973-1976, Hilary eventually completed a BA (Hons) in Economic and Social History from the University of Hull. He then progressed to PhD in the same field with the University of Hull between 1976-1980. On this matter, the British Foundation for the University of the West Indies claims on their Website that:
Sir Hilary received his higher education in the United Kingdom and graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Economic and Social History from Hull University in 1976, and a PhD from the same university in 1980. He has received numerous awards including Honorary Doctor of Letters from Brock University, the University of Glasgow, University of Hull, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in recognition of his major contribution to academic research into transatlantic slavery, popular culture, and sport. He is an editor of the UNESCO General History of Africa series. Sir Hilary was made a Commander Knight of St Andrew (KA), Barbados’s highest honour, in recognition of his distinguished service in the field of education in particular at university level and his dedication to the furtherance of the arts and sports in particular cricket.
Career
Before assuming the office of Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies on May 1, 2015, Hilary was Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados for thirteen years (2002 – 2015). Between 1998 and 2002, he was Pro-Vice Chancellor for the University of the West Indies and Chairman, Board for Undergraduate Studies. Sir Hilary was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities for four years. He was Chairman of the Department of History between 1992-1996. Sir Hilary has been a Professor of Economic and Social History since 1991.
Sir Hilary has lectured extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and has published more than ten academic books including Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations for Slavery in the Caribbean (2013); Centering Woman: Gender Discourses in Caribbean Slave Society (1999); White Servitude and Black Slavery in Barbados 1627-1715 (1990); The History of Barbados (1990); Natural Rebels: A History of Enslaved Black Women in the Caribbean (1989); The Development of West Indies Cricket: Volume One, The Age of Nationalism; and Volume Two, The Age of Globalisation, (1999); A Nation Imagined: The First West Indies Test Team: The 1928 Tour(2003). He is Chairman of the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] Commission on Reparation and Social Justice.
He is considered as one of a distinguished university administrator, economic historian and specialist in higher education and development thinking and practice; he is also internationally known as a great historian. He is the main author of The Brain Train: Tertiary Education Thinking and Planning in the Caribbean (2002). So far, Sir Hilary is Vice President of the International Task Force for the UNESCO Slave Route Project; a consultant for the UNESCO Cities for Peace Global Programme; an advisor to the UN World Culture Report; and member of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, Science Advisory Board on sustainable development. He is also a director of Sagicor Financial Corporation PLC, the largest financial company in the region, and of Cable and Wireless Ltd as well as chairman of The University of the West Indies Press.
A Hull Education
The University of Hull credited him in its website as one of its Distinguished Graduates:
In 2007, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles was made a Knight of St. Andrew, the highest national honour in Barbados, for his contribution to “Higher Education, the Arts, and Sports”. In 2009 he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in recognition of his meritorious and distinguished lifetime achievements, public service and contribution to the world of learning and higher education. In August 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow in recognition of the major contribution he has made to academic research into the transatlantic slave trade and plantation slavery.
Professor Sir Hilary has lectured at universities in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and has published more than ten academic books, including:
- Liberties Lost: The Native Caribbean and Slave Societies (Cambridge University Press, 2004), White Servitude and Black Slavery in Barbados 1627-1715 Tennessee University Press, 1990);
- Centering Woman: Gender Discourses in Caribbean Slave Society; (James Currey Press);
References
CV of Sir Hilary Beckles: http://www.uwi.edu/main/documents/cv_sir_hilary_beckles.pdf
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles: http://www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/professor-sir-hilary-beckles/
Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles. http://www.thebfuwi.org/profile/prof-sir-hilary-beckles
Back to: Hull Alumni Index Page
CV of Sir Hilary Beckles: http://www.uwi.edu/main/documents/cv_sir_hilary_beckles.pdf
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles: http://www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/professor-sir-hilary-beckles/
Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles. http://www.thebfuwi.org/profile/prof-sir-hilary-beckles
Back to: Hull Alumni Index Page