DR. RAYMOND Wright, a Jamaican geologist, and Prof. Harold Ramkissoon, a Trinidadian, mathematician, were presented with the first CARICOM Science Awards by the Hon. K. Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada and Prime Minister responsible for Science and Technology in CARICOM. The awards, which are being sponsored by Caribbean Money Market Brokers Limited, were presented at a major CARICOM Conference on 'Harnessing Science & Technology for Caribbean Development' which took place in Trinidad on May 10, 2006.
Dr. Raymond Wright has been working in the energy sector for the past 28 years. Educated in geology at Durham and London universities in the U.K., and Stanford University, California, he has published over 120 papers, many in refereed journals, two books and two book chapters, in the area of energy, geology and business management.
His first book on the 'Biostratigraphy of Jamaica' was published as Memoir 182 of the Geological Society of America. His second book entitled 'Jamaica's Energy - Old Prospects, New Resources' made him the first CEO of a petroleum company to publish a book on renewable energy. He received the Chubb Award for excellence in geology and the national honour of Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD) from the Government of Jamaica. At the 2002 World Renewable Energy Congress in Cologne, Germany, Dr. Wright was given the award of 'Pioneer
in Renewable Energy'.
Prof. Harold Ramkissoon, the first West Indian to receive a Personal Chair in Mathematics at the University of the West Indies, has published four books and over 85 papers in internationally peer reviewed journals. He has been the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (Germany), a Fulbright Fellowship (U.S.A), a Third World Academy of Sciences Fellowship (China), and has been an invited scientist at a number of centres of excellence, including Cambridge University, M.I.T., Princeton University, Indian Institute of Science, University of Göttengen, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution to mathematics and the development of science in the region and beyond, Prof. Ramkissoon has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Chaconia Gold Medal (the second highest National Award), the Simon Bolivar Gold Medal (Venezuela), the Key to the City of Havana (Cuba) and has been inducted as a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences.
