Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Full name | Wendell Adrian Mottley | ||||||||||||||
Nationality | Trinidad and Tobago | ||||||||||||||
Born | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | 2 July 1941||||||||||||||
Education | Queen's Royal College Yale University University of Cambridge | ||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Economist and Politician | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Wendell Adrian Mottley ORTT (born 2 July 1941) is a Trinidad and Tobago economist, politician and athlete. [1] Mottley served as Senator and member of the House of Representatives with the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and was Minister of Finance from 1991 to 1995. [2] He was an Ivy League sprinter, winning two Olympic medals in 1964. [3]
Mottley was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He was the youngest of four brothers who were all runners. [3] As a youngster, he began to run in competitions sponsored local oil companies. [4] He attended Queen's Royal College, an elite public high school in Port of Spain. [3] While competing in a high school track meet, the coach from Loughborough University suggested that Mottley would be of interest to his friend who coached track at Yale University. [4]
Mottley attended Yale University, graduating in economics in 1964. [3] While at Yale, he made the dean's list, was captain of the track team, and joined St. Anthony Hall. [5] [3] [4] He was the first person of colour to join St. Anthony Hall, nationwide. [6]
He earned a master's degree in economics from St Catharine's College at the University of Cambridge. [5] While at Cambridge, Mottley was captain of the track team and became lifelong friends with the Oxford team's captain, later the novelist Jeffrey Archer. [3] [7]
Mottley was a sprinter for Yale University track team. [3] His coach was Bob Giegengack, also the track coach for Team USA in the 1964 Summer Olympics. [4] In addition to sprinting, Giegengack had Mottley run cross country, "which he hated". [4]
Mottley participated in three Heptagonal Games Championships between 1962 and 1964, winning the 440y each year. [3] In the mid-1960s, Mottley was the fastest man in Yale University and Ivy League history. [3] He still is the record holder in the 500m/600y at Yale. [3] Mottley also set indoor world records for the 400-yard, 500-yard, and 600-yard distances in 1964. [3] His personal best time of 45.2 stands as the Ivy League record for the 440y/400 meter event. [3] One writer notes, "In his time he was not only the best long sprinter in the Ivy League but also one of the best in the world." [3] In 1964, Mottley set indoor world records for the 400-yard, 500-yard, and 600-yard distances. [3]
At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Mottley won a silver medal for the 400 meters and a bronze medal for the 4 x 400 meters relay, representing Trinidad and Tobago. [8] [1] After the race where he won the silver medal, Mottley says Giegengack gave him a salute. [4]
After the Olympics, Mottley ran track for Cambridge University and competed in the European circuit. [3] He also took two gold medals at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Jamaica, winning in the 440 yards and the 4×440 yards relay events [5] [9] The relay team set the Commonwealth Games record for the 4x440y. [3] and won the British AAA Championships title in the 440 yards event at the 1966 AAA Championships. [10] [11] [12]
Mottley was elected as Senator to the Trinidad and Tobago 2nd Republican Parliament from 1981 to 1986, and was appointed Minister of Housing and Resettlement from 1981 to 1985. [5] [13] He was then appointed Minister of Industry and Commerce, serving from 1985 to 1986. [13]
As a member of the People's National Party, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the 4th Republican Parliament for Saint Ann's East, from 1992 to 1995. [5] [2] [13] From 1992 to 1994, he was Minister of Finance. [13] He was responsible for the flotation of the Trinidad and Tobago dollar. [14] He also founded the Civilian Conservation Corps in Trinidad and Tobago. [15] He was Minister of Tourism from 1994 to 1995. [13]
In the early 2000s, Mottley was the leader of the Citizens' Alliance, a dissolved minor political party in Trinidad and Tobago. [16] His party received 5,955 votes (1%) and captured no seats in the 2002 general election. [17]
After Cambridge, Mottley worked in London, before returning to Trinidad and Tobago, where he developed a career in housing development. [3] [7] In 1996, Mottley became an investment banker at Credit Suisse in New York, serving as managing director and senior advisor over the course of fifteen years. [18] [9] [19]
Mottley was a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, a United States–based think tank, where he contributed Trinidad and Tobago--industrial policy 1959–2008 : a Historical and Contemporary Analysis in 2008. [20]
Later, he was chairman of the board of the Unit Trust Corporation, the Caribbean's largest mutual fund company. [5] [9]
He served on the board of the Pan-American Life Insurance Group from 2013 to his retirement in 2021, [9] [19] when he reached the board's mandatory retirement age of 80. [19]
Mottley served on the board of World Wildlife Fund and the Asa Wright Bird Foundation, a Caribbean environmentalist group. [3] He is also a member of the Yale School of Forestry leadership council. [3]
On 1 November 2018, Mottley received the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT) for his contribution to national development and public service. [21] [9]
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