UWI to honour Ralph Gonsalves with new public policy research centre

The University of the West Indies (UWI) says it will dedicate a research scope in honour of former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister and academic Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

Clive Landis made the announcement during the Fifth Owen Arthur Distinguished Lecture last Saturday, at which Gonsalves was the featured speaker.

Professor Landis said the University Council, at its April 17 meeting, approved the establishment of a Centre for Public Policy and Governance at the Cave Hill Campus in recognition of Gonsalves’ six decades of service, scholarship and political leadership across the Caribbean.

Gonsalves, 80, served as prime minister from 2001 to 2025 and as leader of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) from 2001. He is the longest continuously serving prime minister since St Vincent and the Grenadines gained independence in 1979, having spent almost 25 years in office. He now serves as Opposition Leader after the ULP lost the November 2025 general election to the New Democratic Party (NDP), headed by attorney Dr Godwin Friday.

Gonsalves has a longstanding connection to UWI, both as a student and academic. He graduated with distinction in economics from the Mona Campus in 1969 and earned a master’s degree in government from the university in 1971. As a student, he served as president of the Guild of Students and was involved in campaigns surrounding historian and academic Walter Rodney.

He later earned a PhD in government from the University of Manchester in 1974. His doctoral research examined the political economy of trade unions and industrial relations in Uganda between 1950 and 1971.

Gonsalves subsequently returned to UWI as a lecturer, teaching political science at both the Mona and Cave Hill campuses. His academic interests have included Caribbean politics, political economy, development and the labour movement, areas that have also featured prominently in his published work.

His writings include books and other works examining Caribbean civilisation, the regional labour movement, reparatory justice, political leadership and the political history of St Vincent and the Grenadines. His scholarly work has continued alongside his legal and political careers, giving him a profile that spans academia, law and government.

Before entering frontline politics, Gonsalves practised law and was called to the bar at Gray’s Inn in London in 1981. He has also served in a number of regional and international forums during his political career, including on matters involving Caribbean integration, development and the region’s relationship with larger international powers.

Professor Landis said Gonsalves had requested that no building or centre be named after him. In response, the university decided to dedicate a research scope focused on development, sovereignty and education in his honour.

The decision reflects themes that have run through much of Gonsalves’ academic and political career, particularly the relationship between Caribbean sovereignty, development and the region’s ability to shape its own policies.

Landis added that the Owen Arthur lecture, named in honour of the former prime minister of Barbados, would serve as the inaugural entry in the body of research to be conducted through the Centre for Public Policy and Governance.