Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Tuesday, September 24, 2019 – The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Open Campus will confer an honorary degree on Sir Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton, current Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis at its 2019 graduation ceremony slated for Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday, October 12 at 10:00 am at the St John’s Pentecostal Church, St John’s.

The St Kitts and Nevis national will receive the degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) for outstanding public service to his country.

Sir Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton has an enviable record of public as well as private sector service. An alumnus of The UWI and an attorney by profession, Sir Tapley has made his mark as a regional pioneer in the field. His career is dotted with trail-blazing accomplishments.

Admitted to practice Law in 1975 from among the first group of graduates of the Faculty of Law at The UWI Cave Hill Campus, he went on to become the first of the cohort to be appointed Attorney General in 1980 at the age of 29. This made him the youngest Attorney General in the Commonwealth. He served as Attorney General of St Kitts and Nevis for 15 years, becoming the longest serving Attorney General in the region. With his tenure spanning both the pre and post-independent Federation of St Kitts and Nevis, Sir Tapley also became the first Attorney General of the independent state having earlier served as Crown Counsel, Acting Registrar and Magistrate.

In 1985, Sir Tapley was awarded the rank of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during a Royal Visit to St Kitts and Nevis. In 1988, he was elevated to the rank of Silk (Queen’s Counsel) becoming the first graduate of the West Indian Law School to achieve the honour.

After his public service as Attorney General ended in 1995, Sir Tapley spent 20 years in private practice, during which time he served as a Director of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, a member of the Tripartite Committee (Government/Chamber/Trade Union) and a member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. Other prominent positions he has held include: President of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Bar Association; President of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Bar Association; first President of the Saint Christopher National Trust; Vice President of the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society; and Chairman of The UWI Territorial Advisory Committee.

In September of 2015, Sir Tapley was appointed Governor-General of St Kitts and Nevis and later that year Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II conferred a Knighthood on him. He continues to share his passion for law, history and conservation to enhance citizen patriotism.

Each year, The UWI recognizes individuals for making significant contributions to the region and the wider world in their respective fields of expertise.

Photo caption: Sir Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton

About The UWI

For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Asia, and Africa such as the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education (THE) has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018. It was the only Caribbean-based University to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)