A renowned Jamaican scholar, social critic, and cultural icon, Professor Nettleford was appointed to the inaugural IDRC board in 1970 with first Chairman of the Board, Lester B. Pearson, where he served until 1984.
Born in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, Professor Nettleford studied at Cornwall College in Montego Bay and the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) before receiving a Rhodes scholarship to study politics at the University of Oxford. On his return to Jamaica, he was appointed to UCWI, the beginning of a lifetime career that culminated as Vice-Chancellor of the renamed University of the West Indies from 1998 to 2004.
Professor Nettleford co-founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica and played a leading role in the organization for almost half a century. He was a cultural advisor to three Jamaican prime ministers and the Caribbean Community. The Government of Jamaica awarded him the Order of Merit, its highest non-political national honour, in 1975. He received numerous honorary degrees from universities, including the University of Toronto, Dalhousie University, and the University of British Columbia.
In an interview commemorating IDRC’s first decade, Professor Nettleford revealed both his humility and profound optimism when asked about his expectations when he first joined the organization:
“My own interest is largely the full quest of maximizing the resources of the human being, our creative imagination, our creative intellect. I believe very strongly that, in the final analysis, it is the capacity of the human being to act, to think, to do, that will make anything work.” (Read full interview)
IDRC is grateful for Rex Nettleford’s many years of dedicated service and his passionate commitment to international development research.
