The Daily Observer ( Antigua and Barbuda )
26 January 2023 ( Page 16 )
Jamacia: Professor Sir Hilary Beckles honoured by American Peers
The American Historical
Association has voted to select Vice-Chancellor of The
University of the West Indies
(UWI), Professor Sir Hilary
Beckles, as its Honorary Foreign Scholar for 2023.
The Association has annually recognised a foreign
scholar since 1885, and the
list includes the most acclaimed international historians. Beginning with
Leopold von Ranke (1885), it
showcases well-known
names such as George
Trevelyan (1944), Sir Winston Churchill (1963), Fernand Braudel (1966), Eric
Hobsbawm (1994) and Ramachandra Guha (2019).
Past President of the Association, and Distinguished
Professor at University of
Wisconsin, James H Sweet
noted, “It is the judgement of
the Association that the contribution of Professor Beckles, to historical scholarship,
his efforts to internationalise
historical study, and his crucial role as a mentor to other
scholars does great honour
to the discipline.”
Furthermore, Professor
Sweet said, “In addition to
his superb scholarship, activism, and administrative
work at The UWI, Beckles
has been a selfless supporter
of scholars from around the
world, including the United
States. He has served as a
Council Member for the Institute of Early American
History and Culture, and as
International Editor for the
Journal of American History.
Over the course of his career,
he has offered personal support to U.S. professors and
graduate students conducting research in the
Caribbean.”
The Honorary Foreign
Scholar award was presented at the Association’s
2023 ceremony in Philadelphia on January 5, 2023. In
response, Professor Beckles
noted, “This award by my
American peers is among the
greatest of academic honours, which I accept on behalf of The UWI that gave
me the opportunity as a
young historian to develop
and contribute at the global
level.”
Professor Sir Hilary
Beckles is the second
Caribbean scholar to receive
the award, following the legendary Cuban historian
Manuel M Fraginals in 1998.
The 2023 honour also follows Professor Beckles’ 2022
appointment as the President’s Honorary Visiting
Distinguished Scholar at
Cornell University, for six
years. (UWI press release)