The search for a new leader to helm the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus Council has narrowed to two prominent candidates following the recent passing of founding chairman Sir Aziz Hadeed, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed. Business magnate David Harrison has confirmed he will give serious thought to taking up the vacant chairman role, with former finance minister Dr. Errol Cort positioned as a backup candidate should Harrison decline the post.
Browne made the first public announcement of the announcement of the candidate search during his weekly radio broadcast on Saturday, noting that conversations with Harrison took place recently as government and university leadership work to fill the role left open by Hadeed’s death earlier this month. “In fact, he just said to me he will consider serving as our chairman of the UWI Five Islands,” Browne told listeners.
To date, no final appointment has been finalized, the prime minister clarified. If Harrison opts not to accept the position, Browne says he will reach out to Cort to gauge his interest in taking on the leadership role. “If he doesn’t take it, I’m likely to call upon Dr. Errol Cort, possibly to serve as the chairman. I don’t know if he’s available, but I’ll have to touch base with him,” Browne said, adding that Harrison has not yet formally committed, but has demonstrated open willingness to evaluate the opportunity.
These remarks mark the first public confirmation of potential candidates to succeed Hadeed, a respected community leader whose tenure as campus council chairman was widely lauded for steering the young institution through an era of unprecedented expansion. A well-known local businessman, philanthropist, and education advocate, Hadeed was tapped as the campus’s inaugural council chairman when the campus was established in 2019, and earned reappointment to the role earlier this year in 2024. Under his leadership, student enrollment surged, the campus expanded its range of academic programs, and secured critical funding for large-scale infrastructure upgrades.
Since opening its doors in 2019, the UWI Five Islands Campus has emerged as one of the Antiguan government’s signature education projects. Official government data shows enrollment has skyrocketed from fewer than 350 students in the campus’s early days to close to 2,000 enrolled students today.
Browne’s disclosure about the chairman search came alongside an update on a separate project: a new sports and recreational complex being developed near the Sir Novelle Richards Academy, a project that has received major financial backing from Harrison. Browne noted this would be the second large-scale community project Harrison has supported; the businessman previously contributed millions of dollars to develop the Harrison Centre, and has already donated funds toward this new athletic facility.
The prime minister publicly commended Harrison’s long-standing contributions to national development, and extended gratitude to Ambassador Karen-Mae Hill for fostering the partnership that made the new facility donation possible. “I want to thank Sir David. I also want to thank Karen-Mae Hill. She’s the one who has anchored that relationship and was instrumental in getting him to fund this facility,” Browne said.
As of now, no official timeline has been released for when the new chairman will be appointed. Whoever is selected will take charge of guiding the campus through its next phase of strategic growth, which government officials say will include a major development initiative backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in new planned investment.