Top honours for five

FIVE outstanding Barbadians have secured top honours in the National Awards for Independence Day 2016.

Two new Knights of St. Andrew were named for contributions related to business, law and the environment, with one new Dame of St Andrew and two Companion of Honour awards also conferred in the fields of media and Public Health, specifically in the fight against HIV/AIDS.   

 

Sir Ronald Geoffrey Cave, prominent businessman and a driving force in the local commercial sector, has received the top honour of Knight of St. Andrew. He was educated at The Lodge School, Barbados and McGill University, Canada where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce in 1963. 

 

Sir Ronald joined Cave Shepherd, a family-run business at the time, in 1963 and was later appointed as the company’s Managing Director. In 1970, he was elected Chairman, a position he has held since then. Under his leadership, the firm transformed into a public company and expanded with new retail outlets in Barbados and the region and also diversified into new sectors. His entrepreneurial spirit and sound judgment has resulted in a company that is a broad and diverse operation with interests in retail, financial services and tourism related industries. 

 

He has enjoyed a distinguished career in business, serving as Director and Chairman of innumerable private-sector boards in the retail, wholesale, manufacturing, insurance, tourism, telecommunications, financial, offshore sectors in Barbados and the region. Public service is also an area where he has dedicated much focus over the years, serving as a member of the Public Service Commission, Handicraft Committee, Industrial Development Corporation and more recently as an Independent Senator. He is also a founding member of the Tourism Development Corporation which functions today as a catalyst for positive tourism growth and sustainability of the Barbados tourism industry. In addition, he has served, and continues to do so, in the capacity of Board Member/Trustee of several charitable, educational and sporting organizations, including the Barbados Community Foundation, Barbados Community College, St. Winifred’s School and Cricket Legends of Barbados Museum Trust. 

 

In October 2009, Cave was appointed by the Governor-General of Barbados as an Independent Senator. He served in this capacity until February 2013.

 

Sir John Andrew Connell has been also awarded the Knight of St Andrew for his outstanding contributions to law and the protection of the environment. He attended the Combermere School and the London University where he studied for the Bachelor of Law degree. He attended Lincoln’s Inn and in January 1966 was called to the Bar of Barbados and is still a practicing attorney-at-law. He became a Justice of Appeal from 2005 and served in this capacity for four years. He was also President of the Bar Association in 2006. 

 

Connell served as one of the first Board members of the Parks and Beaches Commission and later a Director and still later the Chairman of the National Conservation Commission which replaced it.

 

The newest Dame of St Andrew is Selma Udine Jackman for extraordinary and outstanding achievement and merit in service to Barbados or to humanity at large. She received her secondary education at Christ Church Girls’ Foundation School and Queen’s College, after which she was awarded a Barbados Government Exhibition to the University of the West Indies (UWI). She subsequently pursued her MBBS degree between 1970 and 1976 at the Faculty of Medicine, Mona Campus, Jamaica. In 1972, while in pursuit of her undergraduate studies in medicine, she was awarded the following preclinical medals: Best Clinical Student, the Leonard De Cordova Medal for Experimental Physiology Sciences and the Biochemistry Medal. 

 

Jackman became one of the first Caribbean-born female surgeons to have qualified and worked in the Caribbean region having gained the majority of her clinical experience in the Caribbean. 

 

The Companion of Honour has been awarded to Anthony Theophilus Bryan, GCM, JP. Born in Barbados, Anthony Bryan is a self-made businessman from humble beginnings who has built a successful media empire with Caribbean reach. His appetite for risk, probably born of his love for cards and sound understanding of the maths behind card games, has spawned a fearless approach to business opportunities – somewhat enigmatic in a society seen as conservative and risk-averse – that has enabled him to beat the odds, and succeed where others have failed.

 

His career started in the same year Barbados became independent, 1966, in the insurance industry with North American Life Insurance.  Learning the ropes quickly, Mr. Bryan became the first agent to sell a policy for the newly formed Life of Barbados (now Sagicor) in June 1971, an early sign of his initiative and dynamism. In 1972, he started his first publishing company, Crown Caribbean Publications, releasing several local magazines, including the first in-flight magazine distributed on Caribbean Airways flights to Europe, and publishing several books, including academic text books used by the University of the West Indies. He expanded Crown’s publishing business rapidly through the 70s, with magazines like “Homemakers”, “Crown”, and “Caribbean Traveller”, all ground-breaking initiatives on the Caribbean publishing scene, and in 1974, he spearheaded the Hilton in-house magazine which was distributed in each guest room. 

 

Seeing the need for greater promotion of the country’s export capabilities, Crown produced the Export Directory of Barbados in 1979, and published “Momentum” magazine, the promotional magazine of the Barbados Export Promotion Agency. Frustrated by the poor quality of radio offerings in Barbados and inspired by his love for quality music, Mr. Bryan branched out to broadcasting in 1982, forming Barbados Broadcasting Service (BBS 90.7FM), thus pioneering Barbados’ first privately-owned FM radio station. Some nine years later, driven by a strong Christian upbringing, a never-ending love for God and a desire to fulfill a need he saw in Barbadian society, he opened a non-profit radio station, Faith FM 102 – dedicated to religious broadcasting - as a service to the community. 

 

In 1998, concerned about the rising crime rate on the island, and trying to influence a return to traditional Barbadian values, Mr. Bryan launched his first newspaper, establishing the intrepid style of challenging the status quo for which his publications are now well known. Again driven by a desire to assist Barbados’ export drive, he bought over Fish of Barbados in 1989, a company engaged in catching and exporting fish.

 

In 2000, Anthony Bryan successfully negotiated his most daring business venture – the purchase of the financially ailing Barbados Advocate, the 105-year “old lady” of Fontabelle, making history in the process as the first black Barbadian to own the venerable newspaper. Despite the Advocate’s ongoing losses, Mr. Bryan’s first act as owner was to shut down the lucrative “Weekend Investigator” publication, whose content was widely seen as degrading to women and generally detrimental to society. Mr. Bryan’s operational innovations and inimitable management style soon turned the company’s fortunes around, while restoring the Advocate’s reputation for editorial and journalistic quality. In 2006, he launched the Grenada Advocate, the first Barbadian-owned publication to be circulated successfully in Grenada.

 

Mr. Bryan’s level-headed public-spiritedness was recognized in 1997 when he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace, and his ongoing contribution to society was further recognized in 2001, when he was awarded the Gold Crown of Merit for his publishing, broadcasting and business achievements.

 

“Bry”, as he is known to friends, has served and continues to serve on several private sector Boards as well as Statutory Boards, including Chairing the Board of Invest Barbados, the corporation charged with the critical task of facilitating foreign investment and promoting Barbados as an international financial centre. He is a Past President of the Media Association of Barbados (11 years), and he was accorded the Paul Harris Fellow recognition by the Rotary Club of Barbados West, for the Advocate’s support of Rotary activities over the years.

 

Married for some 47 years before his wife, Astoria, passed away, Mr. Bryan has three sons and five grandchildren. He still enjoys playing cards, loves music and cooking and has recently renewed his love of rearing sheep and cows.

 

Also receiving the Companion of Honour is Dr. Henrick O.C. Ellis, who has been a leading light in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He developed an interest in HIV/AIDS and following an arranged seminar at the Centers for Disease Control, USA, in 1986 he joined the AIDS Task Force set up by the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners. The next year he was invited by the Ministry of Health to help to establish The National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACA) and was assigned the responsibility for counselling. Following counselling training, he led the training of several Barbadians from various Disciplines in this skill. He chaired the National HIV/AIDS Commission, and served on the Advisory Committee of Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS.

 

The Gold Crown of Merit was awarded to four persons. Former Permanent Secretary Martin Cox has been recognized for his contribution to the Public Service, while Frederick Forde was also honored for a similar feat. Juliette Gooding-Michelin was noted for her contribution to the promotion of Barbados in the diaspora and her humanitarian efforts and Professor Margaret Anne St. John was noted for her contribution to Paediatric Medicine in Barbados.

 

The Gold Crown of Merit was also given to four noteworthy persons. Ainsley Allder was noted for his contribution to showcasing Barbadian artistes, Barbados, its music, culture and talent in the diaspora and Dr. Trevor Atherley for his highly meritorious service and achievement in the field of Medicine. Bjorn Bjerkham was noted for his contribution to the Construction Industry. Veteran Trade Unionist Ulric Sealy has been honored for his contribution to the movement.

 

The Barbados Service Star was awarded to Adrian Agard, Jeremy Collymore, Dianna Greenidge, Victor Hutchinson and Deiann Sobers.  The Barbados Service Star was given to Yvonne Bradshaw, Peter Edey, Ernetha Phillips, Bernard Sealey and Eureka Weekes. The Barbados Bravery Medal was given to Adrian ‘Drummer’ Brathwaite who saved the lives of three visitors who experienced difficulty while swimming on the West Coast.