Sir George Alleyne is a distinguished Barbadian scholar, who has made his country and the rest of the Caribbean proud. His favorite quotation is, “Success is 1% genius and 99% elbow grease”. This is undoubtedly the secret to his successful career. His contribution to the medical field in the region is punctuated by numerous “firsts.”
He was the first Caribbean person to be appointed director on the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). He was the first graduate of the University of the West Indies to hold the title of Chancellor; the first and only West Indian to be appointed the Sir Arthur Sims Commonwealth Travelling Professor. In recognition for extensive services in medicine, he was made Knight Bachelor by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. In 2001 he was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community, which is the highest honour that can be conferred on a Caribbean national for his contribution.
Although “retired”, Sir George Alleyne continues to serve his people in his area of specialization, Public Health, as a member of the Caribbean Health Task Force. He also heads a special team to combat HIV in the Caribbean.
George Alleyne was born on October 7, 1932 at Lucas Street, St. Philip, Barbados. He grew up in a home which was disciplined by his father, an elementary school teacher. His mother was a homemaker. He considered himself an average student at the Holy Trinity Boys’ School, but his diligence and discipline brought him success. He moved through the school system with apparent ease. He attended Harrison’s College, where he found he was not very good at art. He says, he “couldn’t draw a circle to save his life.” And when he had to choose between Art and Classics, he was the “first to sign up for Classics to study Greek and Latin.”
He won the Barbados Island Scholarship in 1951. Now you must understand that in those days there was only one such scholarship to be won. He won it. This was his ticket to study anything, anywhere in the world, but he decided to be one of the first to study Medicine at the University College of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, recently founded in 1948.
He graduated in 1957 as the gold medallist in Medicine and interned at the Old General Hospital in Barbados. He then went to Britain for his postgraduate degree in Internal Medicine. He attended the University of London where he worked with Lord Rossenheim whom he considers one of his mentors. His doctorate was completed in 1965 and he began lecturing at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados.
At this time, he also worked at the Tropical Metabolic Research Unit, doing research on Malnutrition with Dr. Harold Ford, whom he regarded as the finest doctor and a great teacher. Over a decade of original research, he produced 144 publications in scientific journals, which qualified him at the relatively young age of 40 to be appointed Professor of Medicine in 1972. Four years later he was promoted to the Chair-Department of Medicine – the first UWI graduate to achieve this distinction. In this capacity he developed a formal postgraduate programme encouraging medical research and raised funds for a new medical sciences building. His greatest joy was teaching young persons and the exhilarating feeling of accomplishment having enriched the minds of his students.
From 1981 to 1990, he held several posts at PAHO. He became its Director in 1995, the first Caribbean person to hold this title. He served with enthusiasm, integrity, and great distinction as he fought for equity in healthcare worldwide. Sir George has served on various committees including the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the World Health Organization Tropical Research Programme and the Institute of Medicine Committee on Scientific Investigation in Developing Countries. He has given numerous speeches, addresses and presentations which deal with issues such as equity in health, health and development, problems in health care in the Caribbean, and the basis for international cooperation in health to aid promoting awareness throughout the Caribbean.
He received numerous awards including the Pelican Award from UWI and the Centenary Medal in Jamaica. He was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, England in 1973 and Honorary Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He also holds honorary academic awards such as the Honoris Causa from various universities including the University of the West Indies.
Sir George “retired” in 2003, but his presence among us here today is testimony to the fact that he is still very actively serving the region. He is the current Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, he serves on the Task Force on Health Care in the Caribbean and is as well a Special Envoy to combat HIV in the Caribbean. In his free time, he enjoys gardening and reading.
Professor Sir George’s motivation for success is very simple – “hard work and discipline.” He says that he allowed his life to progress without planning, and he grasped the opportunities as they came along. Success results from preparation and opportunity. He credits one of his mentors who advised, “Do not make plans, do what you have to do and do it well, giving your best and everything will be OK.”
We here in Belize are located in the westernmost part of the Caribbean. Professor Sir George hails from the easternmost part of the Caribbean. And for him to have traveled all the way here, to share in Belize’s Open Campus celebration of the UWI 60th anniversary, no doubt speaks volumes of his character and his commitment to the region. He is a true champion of the Caribbean and for which, because of his academic brilliance all the way back from Harrison’s College, he had earned the endearing nickname “Champ Alleyne.” Despite that, he himself will tell you that he has remained humble and grounded as even way back in Jamaica he was referred to, also endearingly, as “the little smart doctor boy from Barbados.”
At his inaugural address on being robed the new Chancellor of UWI Dec. 13th, 2003 he made the statement, “My generation of West Indians feels that there are more things that unite than separate us.”
Professor Henry Fraser, Dean of the School of Medicine, UWI Cave Hill, Barbados, his colleague and fellow Barbadian, has commented that, “We should all hold fast in faith to that statement, and we should all use every opportunity to commit to the most valuable institution in the history of the English speaking Caribbean – the University of the West Indies.
It has been written by Khalil Gibran that “one’s work is one’s love made visible.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Professor the Honourable Sir George Alleyne, Professor Emeritus, the Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, whose works and love are both very much visible.