The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Each country is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory.
Edward Alston Cecil Baugh CD was a Jamaican poet and scholar, recognised as an authority on the work of Derek Walcott, whose Selected Poems (2007) Baugh edited, having in 1978 authored the first book-length study of the Nobel-winning poet's work, Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision.
Carolyn Cooper CD is a Jamaican author, essayist and literary scholar. She is a former professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. From 1975 to 1980, she was an assistant professor at Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. In 1980, she was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where she continued to work until her retirement as a professor in 2017. Also a newspaper journalist, Cooper writes a weekly column for the Sunday Gleaner.
Fae Ellington, CD, OD, is a Jamaican media personality and lecturer best known for hosting the television series Morning Time on JBC for more than twelve years.
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson-Herah is a Jamaican sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, she is a five-time Olympic champion, the fastest woman alive in the 100 m, and the third fastest ever in the 200 m.
Shericka Jackson is a Jamaican sprinter competing in the 60 m, 100 m, 200 m, and 400 metres. In the 100 m, she’s the fifth fastest woman of all time, while in the 200 m, she’s the second fastest woman in history.
Shirley Miller is a Jamaican attorney and one of the first women admitted as Queen's Counsel in the Caribbean. Admitted to the inner bar in 1971, she became the first Queen's Counsel in Jamaica and has served in numerous capacities, including as head of the Legal Reform Department and on the Electoral Advisory Committee. She served on a committee of three to review Jamaica's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and was honored as a commander in the Order of Distinction, as well as receiving the Order of Jamaica for her contributions to legal reform.
Gwendolyn Spencer, OD was a nurse and midwife, who co-founded the Jamaican Midwives' Association. An advocate for professionalism, she was instrumental in developing training programs for midwives and establishing a professional pay grade from the government for their services. She received the Order of Distinction for her contributions to healthcare in the country.
Heather Little-White OD was a Jamaican nutritionist, journalist and disabilities activist. After earning degrees in nutrition and communication, she worked with Grace Kitchens and founded the television programme Creative Cooking to share sound nutritional advice throughout the country. As a journalist, besides writing articles on nutrition, she wrote a weekly column on sexuality for the Outlook Magazine segment of The Gleaner newspaper. After working with the Reggae Boyz, Jamaica's national football team, as a nutrition consultant, Little-White became paralyzed from the waist down after being shot during a robbery attempt. Becoming an advocate for people with disabilities, she focused on bringing awareness, accessibility, and assistance to Jamaicans living with disabilities. She was honored as an officer in the Order of Distinction in 2001.
Ena Collymore-Woodstock OD, MBE is a Jamaican barrister and magistrate who throughout her career broke many barriers for women. After being orphaned, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service and trained as a radar operator, serving in Belgium and Britain. When the war ended, she earned a law degree and returned to Jamaica to become the first woman Court Clerk, Crown Solicitor, and Resident Magistrate. When the Juvenile Courts were established in the country, she served as its chair from 1964 to 1967 and then as a Senior Resident Magistrate until her retirement in 1977. Post-retirement, she served as magistrate for the Turks and Caicos and Anguilla. For her contributions to the development of Jamaica, she was honored as a member of the Order of the British Empire and Jamaica's Order of Distinction.
Sheila Dorothy King, CD was a Barbadian-born, Jamaican academic and physician. She was the second woman to be appointed as full professor at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She was the first woman appointed as a professor in the Faculty of Medicine in 1983, ten years after she was appointed as head of UWI's Microbiology Department. A specialist in infectious disease and viral epidemiology, she advised numerous national, regional and international departments and governmental agencies on such diseases as dengue, influenza, and typhoid. In 1998, she was honored as a Commander of the Order of Distinction.
Barbara Joy Gloudon was a Jamaican writer. She received two Seprod Awards from the Press Association of Jamaica and Order of Distinction. Gloudon was a scriptwriter for Jamaica's Little Theatre Movement (LTM) and wrote radio drama. She hosted a radio talk show for thirty years and became chair of the LTM. She was granted the Order of Jamaica in 1992 and became a fellow of the Institute of Jamaica in 2012.
Gema Ramkeesoon was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian social worker and women's rights activist who was one of the early pioneers of the women's movement in Trinidad and Tobago. She was honored for her social service work as a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1950 and received the gold Hummingbird Medal from Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.
Enid Gonsalves, OD was a Jamaican teacher and community activist from Hanover Parish, Jamaica. She was recognized throughout her career with many distinctions including the Governor General's Achievement Award and the Prime Minister's Medal for Community Service and Education. In 2008 she was honoured as an officer in the Order of Distinction and the following year, received the Holy See's Medal of Good Merit.
Hazel Conupe Monteith, O.D., J.P. was an Afro-Jamaican consumer rights advocate, radio personality and social worker. Graduating from the first course in social work offered by the University of the West Indies, Monteith worked for twelve years as a traveling field agent coordinating social welfare projects for the Jamaica Federation of Women.
Edris Elaine, Lady Allan was a Jamaican community worker, political figure and women's rights advocate. From childhood, she performed community service and worked as a clerk in several retail establishments prior to her marriage. She was the first telephone operator for the Jamaica All Island Telephone Service. As the wife of Sir Harold Allan, honored with the first knighthood bestowed on a Jamaican of African descent by the British crown, she became an instant celebrity, traveling often with her husband and serving as his secretary. A founding member of the Jamaica Federation of Women (JFW), she held many offices in the organization including serving as chair from 1959 to 1962 and again from 1971 to 1976, and then president from 1976 until her death in 1995.
Maureen Warner-Lewis is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian academic whose career focused on the linguistic heritage and unique cultural traditions of the African diaspora of the Caribbean. Her area of focus has been to recover the links between African cultures and Caribbean cultures. She has been awarded multiple prizes for her works, including two Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Awards, the Gold Musgrave Medal of the Institute of Jamaica, and she was inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame of Tobago.
Anthony Keith Edmund Hart was a Jamaican businessman, philanthropist, and politician.
Mohammad Hussain Ahmad, usually cited as M. H. Ahmad, is an Indian agricultural biotechnologist, academic, and businessman based in Kingston, Jamaica. He founded the Biotechnology Centre, a research unit at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, and served as its inaugural director from 1990 until his retirement in 2011. His research focused on medicinal plants, molecular biology, and genetic engineering, aiming to enhance agricultural production in the Caribbean. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Order of Distinction in 2024. He is also a former advisor to Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and a former board member of the National Commission on Science and Technology.
Jamaica 
