Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford, a Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies recently received a “Docteur Honoris Causa” degree from the Universite des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG) at its Guadeloupe campus along with three other Caribbean awardees in an inaugural presentation of such doctorates by the French West Indian University.

Since its inception in 1918, the title Docteur Honoris Causa has been one of the most prestigious distinctions ever devised by French universities. It is a means of honouring personalities of foreign nationality for outstanding services rendered to Science, Letters or the Arts, to France or to the university.

Professor Nettleford, a former president of UNICA (Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutions) of which the French Antillean University is a member, was himself made an officer in 2004 with the Ordre des Arts et Lettres from the French government. He is the recipient of several honorary doctorates from universities on both sides of the Atlantic. The citation from the UAG alluded to his academic work in arts and culture in development recognized both regionally and internationally.