( L - R ) Small, Byles

Respected jurist Hugh Small, QC, and insurance executive Richard Byles, two men who have made their mark on Jamaica in their respective fields, are to be recognised with the Carlton Alexander Award for Excellence.

Small has served Jamaica in politics, holding various Cabinet posts, and in the legal field as attorney here, and on the bench elsewhere in the region.

He is now retired.

Byles, who chairs both public and private sector bodies, runs Jamaica's most successful insurance company, Life of Jamaica.

The CAAE is presented annually to past students of Jamaica College, a high school in Kingston, who have excelled.

The proceeds of this year's dinner awards, hosted by the Jamaica College Old Boys Association (JCOBA) will go to the school's building fund.

Former Prime Minister and Fellow of the University of the West Indies Edward Seaga will be the keynote speaker.

Small is being recognised for his legal, judicial and political achievements.

In March 2001, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, retiring in July 2006 and returning home in Jamaica.

His political career, which ended in 1993, has included tenures in the Ministries of Commerce, Finance, Education, and Mining.

Ceo since 2004

Byles has been the CEO of Life of Jamaica since 2004, but aside from his substantive job at the dominant insurance company, he is chairman of Red Stripe and PanCaribbean Financial Services in the private sector, and the state owned National Water Commission.

He is alsoa vice-president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, and represents the agency on the development council, a joint public/private sector body.

The CAAE was first introduced in 1990 in memory of Alexander, whose business acumen and philanthropy were highly respected.