In 1947 Cedric Hassall was appointed the first Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University College of the West Indies (UCWI), now The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus. He had been handpicked by Professor Alexander Todd of the University of Cambridge (UK). Lord Todd, as he was later known, went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1957. At the time Hassall, a New Zealander, had only recently completed his PhD in Microbial Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He brought to the department a formidable research ethic. The first graduates of the UCWI were students from the Faculty of Natural Sciences (later changed to the Faculty of Pure & Applied Sciences and now called the Faculty of Science & Technology). Eleven students graduated in that first batch, having spent three years completing a Bachelor of Science degree. The number of staff expanded in 1950 and 1951. The earliest course offerings were in organic and physical chemistry; inorganic chemistry was less of a focus. From those early days the department placed great emphasis on research, much of which had local significance. Cedric Hassall began his study of natural products from local plants, such as Urechites lutea (Night Sage) and Calotropis procera (French Cotton). Other natural products research proliferated at this time, including work on unusual lupine alkaloids of Ormosia jamaicensis, alkaloids from Ocotea rodiaei (Demerara Greenheart), and fungal metabolites from Aspergillus terreus. During this time research also led to the discovery of a new soil organism named Streptomyces jamaicensis. Leila Wong, a Jamaican by birth, who had gained a BA degree from Indiana State University in 1949, specialising in bacteriology, was appointed as a research assistant. He played a key role in solving the ‘mystery’ of the Jamaican Vomiting Sickness – high levels of hypoglycin A in improperly matured ackees (Blighia sapida) was causing this illness. Hassall also began studies on rum, particularly high ester rums from Hampden Estate on the North Coast. So intense was the research in the department that the first degree, which was also the first PhD, at UCWI was awarded in 1952 to Alfred Lippman, an early member of the academic staff. In 1955 three MSc degrees (then research degrees) were awarded to graduate students Wilfred Chan, Kenneth Magnus and Trevor McMorris. All three went on to complete PhD degrees as students of Cedric Hassall. The graduate students in the department were great thinkers and very skilled. Kenneth Magnus, as a research student, discovered the antibiotic Monamycin. Major work on this compound led to the development of the drug cilazapril, which is still widely used in the treatment of hypertension. Trevor McMorris, while still a research student, synthesised the drug megimide (methyl ethyl glutarimide) to save the life of a staff member, as the drug was not otherwise available at such short notice. Dr. Sidney Martin, who later became the first chairman of the Scientific Research Council, began a study of the new technique of the time – paper chromatography. One of Dr. Martin’s students was Gerald Lalor who, as a part-time student, completed his PhD. Cedric Hassall believed in acquiring the latest technology to support research. Some of the instruments he secured were an early UV-VIS instrument and a new top of the line UV-VIS spectrometer, an IR spectroscopy instrument and a Craig apparatus for counter current distribution. He was able to establish a Special Instruments Laboratory, an idea which is still maintained. He saw the need for the application of chemistry to the industrial scene in Jamaica and the West Indies, and set up the Chemical Technology sub-department. He served for one year (1955-1956) as Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences. In 1957 Hassall left the department to become the Head of Department of Chemistry at University College, Swansea, The University of Wales.