SIR Ronald Sanders, whose weekly column appears every Monday in The Tribune, has been awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by the University of the West Indies Joint Committee of Council and Senate. Although the award was announced in April, the official ceremony will take place later this year.

Sir Ronald is an international consultant, writer and former senior Caribbean ambassador. His diplomatic career has spanned two periods between 1982 to 1987 and 1996 to 2004. He was twice High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for Antigua and Barbuda and Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). He had special responsibilities for negotiations on financial and trade matters in the WTO and with the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He has attended Commonwealth and CARICOM Foreign Ministers and Heads of Governments Conferences throughout his diplomatic career.

In July 2010, he was appointed as one of ten members of an Eminent Persons Group, which was requested by Commonwealth Heads of Government to recommend options for reform that will sharpen the impact of the 53-nation Commonwealth, strengthen its networks and raise its profile.

Sir Ronald is the son-in-law of Sir Shridath “Sonny” Ramphal, QC, who served for 15 years as Commonwealth Secretary-General.