Professor Clement Sankat has commenced his tenure as the new acting Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies on January 1, 2008. Professor Sankat was selected after a worldwide search, during which Professor Bridget Brereton served as interim Principal from August 1, 2007. Prior to Professor Brereton taking up the post, Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie served as the Campus Principal and Pro Vice Chancellor for six years. Professor Sankat will be officially inducted as the PVC and Campus Principal following the final approval by the University Council which meets in April. He describes the opportunity as both “an honour and a privilege”, and intends to focus on capacity development, graduate studies, research and partnerships.

A Guyanese by birth, he grew up in Number 64 Village located in Berbice where during the vacations he helped his parents, both school teachers, in rice farming and processing. After attending Queens College in Georgetown, he was the recipient of a Government scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies at UWI where he was awarded First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering and following this with a Master's degree in the same field. He obtained his Doctorate from the University of Guelph in Canada specialising in food and agricultural engineering.

Professor Sankat has won accolades such as the Solomon Hochoy Award for Best Mechanical Engineering Student and the Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in 2001 for achievements in research, university and public service. A chartered engineer (CEng), Professor Sankat is also a Fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers of the UK (FIAgrE) and a Fellow of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (FAPETT). His teaching, research and professional interests are in the areas of processing and storage of tropical crops and food engineering, engineering graphics, machine design and the management of innovation. He has helped the nutmeg industry in Grenada by developing machines to replace the hammers used by processors to crack open the seed. This he said is one example of his support for the application and promotion of engineering in agriculture in the region.

For close to 30 years Professor Sankat has contributed to academic and administrative developments within the University at the departmental, faculty and university levels. He commenced the duties of the Pro Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies from August 1, 2007 prior to which he was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at that faculty and Campus Coordinator, Graduate Studies and Research. In his new position, he intends to immediately focus on the development thrust of the UWI with the implementation and achievement of the University's strategic plan. In a previous interview with UWItoday, Professor Sankat indicated the development of students and student centredness as two of his passions. As the new PVC and Campus Principal he will strive to reform teaching and learning at the University with a view to producing excellent graduates who will become good leaders.

Sincere thanks from UWItoday to Professor Bridget Brereton who served as interim Principal from August to December 2007.

This is a happy beginning for Professor Sankat, a product of the UWI, and as the University celebrates its 60th Anniversary.

The University College was established in Mona, Jamaica in 1948 and was the first campus of the University of the West Indies, at that time catering to 33 students from throughout the Caribbean region. The St. Augustine campus in Trinidad was established in 1960 and the Cave Hill campus located in Barbados, in 1962. At present, an open campus is being established to cater to the contributing countries with no campuses. UWI serves as the region's premier tertiary academic institution serving more than 15 Caribbean countries and attended by students from all over the world.

Professor Sankat came to the UWI campus in Trinidad in 1969 and has made St. Augustine his home.