The University of the West Indies has learned with regret of the passing of Mr. Uriel Salmon who taught in the Department of Management Studies for some 25 years. In their tribute to him the Department of Management Studies noted that during his tenure with the University thousands of students passed through his hands and all have fond memories of ‘Mr. Sammy’. Mr. Salmon was an outstanding teacher who loved the subjects that he taught and who creatively sought to transfer that love to his students. A devoted Christian, Mr. Salmon was consistently dedicated to teaching more than just accounting and law to his students. He taught them life skills, values and attitudes and encouraged them to stretch themselves to their full capacity. Many students looked forward to his daily ‘thought for the day’ at the start of each class as well as his comforting prayers at the beginning of his exams. Mr. Salmon was also the author of several publications designed to help build understanding of the accounting practice. Because of his sterling contribution the department chose to honour him on three separate occasions since his retirement and on the last such occasion we noted that he was ‘A legend in his time’.
During his tenure with the department, Mr. Salmon also served the wider university community as associate lecturer at the Norman Manley Law School from 1975 to 2003 and lecturer in Accounting at the Institute of Management and Production and at the UWI Distance Education Centre. At the national level, Mr. Salmon also served as a member and Chairman of the Parliamentary Integrity Commission, as the Vice President of the Public Accountancy Board and as Moderator and External Examiner of CAST Business Education Programme. In August 1998 the Government of Jamaica recognized his significant contribution to public service and to the accounting profession by conferring on him the Order of Distinction – Commander Class.
The University of the West Indies extends its sincere condolences to his widow Dr. Hazel Salmon and to other members of his family. The funeral service for Mr. Salmon was held on Thursday June 29 at the University Chapel.