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The University of the West Indies (UWI) is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 16 countries in the Caribbean - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos. The university consists of three major campuses at Mona, Jamaica, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cave Hill, Barbados, together with a satellite campus at Mt. Hope, Trinidad and Tobago and Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management at Nassau in the Bahamas. Resident Tutors are also present in non-campus contributing territories, together with branches of the UWI School of Continuing Studies
UWI began as a University College in special relationship with the University of London in 1948. The first campus was at Mona, Jamaica. The St. Augustine campus (in Trinidad) entered the system in 1960 when the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) merged with UWI. The Cave Hill campus in Barbados was added in 1963. In 1962 UWI became independent of the University of London system.
As intially established, certain specialities were located on separate campuses. Thus, the Faculty of Medical Sciences was located on the Mona campus, the Faculty of Law was located located on the Cave Hill campus and the Faculties of Engineering and Agriculture were located on the St. Augustine campus. A second Medical School was established by the Trinidad and Tobago government at the Mt. Hope Medical Sciences Complex in 1989. In addition to human medicine, the Mt. Hope campus also included Veterinary Medicine and Dentistry. In addition, a Tourism School was established in The Bahamas.
The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies.
Seven of the regional Prime Ministers are graduates of the UWI. In addition, former UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor and St. Augustine Campus Principal, Professor Emeritus George Maxwell Richards is the current President of Trinidad and Tobago.
Noted alumni
- Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister of St. Lucia
- Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados
- Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Wendy Fitzwilliam, former Miss Universe
- Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Pearlette Louisy, Governor-General of St. Lucia
- Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
- Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada
- Percival Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica
- Walter Rodney - Guyanese historian and political figure
- Derek Walcott - Saint Lucian Poet, Nobel laureate
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