George Maxwell Richards

George Maxwell Richards, TC, CM (born 1 December 1931) is the fourth President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. A chemical engineer by training, Richards was Principal of the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad in 1996. He previously worked for Shell Trinidad Ltd. before joining the University of the West Indies in 1965. He was sworn into office on March 17, 2003 for a five-year term. Richards is the first Head of State in the Anglophone Caribbean of Amerindian ancestry[citation needed].

"Max" Richards, as he is generally known, was born in the town of San Fernando in south Trinidad. He received his primary education there before winning an exhibition (scholarship) to attend Queen's Royal College in Port of Spain. From 1950 to 1951 he worked for the United British Oilfields of Trinidad (precursor to Shell Trinidad Ltd.) at Point Fortin. He received a scholarship from them to study chemical engineering. Richards then attended the University of Manchester (UMIST) where he took a BEng degree (1955) and an MEng degree (1957). He then obtained a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge (Pembroke).

Richards returned to Trinidad and worked for Shell Trinidad Ltd. from 1957 to 1965 before joining the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of the West Indies, eventually attaining the post of Professor of Chemical Engineering. From 1980 to 1985 Richards served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Principal of the University. He served as Acting Principal of the St. Augustine Campus from 1984 to 1985, and was confirmed in the position in 1985. Richards served as Principal through the turbulent period in 1988 then the government slashed the university's budget by 30% and instituted a cess on university students (effectively raising tuition from TT$120 to $3000 overnight). He managed to keep the university afloat through this difficult period and retired as Principal in 1996 although he continued to teach as Professor Emeritus until he was elected President. Richards has also served on the Boards of many Trinidad and Tobago companies including that of the state-owned oil company, Trintoc (now Petrotrin), the National Gas Company and the Trinidad Publishing Company.

Although the position of President is a primarily ceremonial one, Richards has been outspoken in his criticism of the upsurge of crime in Trinidad and Tobago. He is also well known for his involvement in Carnival.

Richards was re-elected to a second five-year term as President by the Electoral College on February 11, 2008. He was the only candidate, and the Electoral College met for only three minutes.

In 1977, Richards received the Chaconia Medal of the National Order of the Trinity, Class 1 Gold (the Chaconia Medal, Gold) for his contributions to Trinidad and Tobago. He is married to Jean Ramjohn, an anesthesiologist and cousin of the former President Noor Hassanali. They have two children: a son, Mark, who is also a medical doctor; and a daughter, Maxine, who is a businesswoman.

President Richards in May 2009 faced calls to resign for bungling the appointment of the Trinidad and Tobago Integrity Commission – whose members all resigned for various reasons within a week of being sworn in on May 1, 2009 – even as Richards embarked on a three week foreign vacation. In a televised address to the nation on May 29, 2009, he said he had not brought his office into disrepute and so saw no reason to resign.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC, MP (born 22 April 1952 in Siparia) is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the seventh person to hold this position. She was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, 2010 and is the country's first female Prime Minister.

Persad-Bissessar is the political leader of the United National Congress and leads the People's Partnership, a coalition of five parties, formed for the general election of 24 May 2010. She was the first woman to serve as Attorney General, acting Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago. She became Political Leader of the United National Congress and Opposition in 2010.

Early Life and Career

Kamla Persad-Bissessar's ancestors originally hail from Bhelupur village of Buxar district, Bihar, India.Her ancestors migrated from Bihar to the Caribbean islands in the 19th century as Girmitiya labourers to Trinidad and Tobago.She graduated from Iere High School and went on to further her studies at the University of the West Indies, Norwood Technical College (England), and the Hugh Wooding Law School. Consequently, she was awarded a B.A. (Hons.), a Diploma in Education, a B.A. of Laws (Hons.) and a Legal Education Certificate. In 2006 she obtained an Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) from the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, Trinidad.

On completion of her studies, Mrs. Persad-Bissessar entered the teaching profession. While in England pursuing studies, she worked as a social worker with the Church of England Children’s Society of London. She taught at the St. Andrew High School in Kingston, Jamaica and at the Mona Campus in Jamaica. Later, she taught at the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. At the Jamaica College of Insurance she was also a Consultant Lecturer. Her next step was to lecture at a Tertiary Education institution. After lecturing for a total of six years, Mrs. Persad-Bissessar then became a full-time Attorney-at-Law.

Personal Life

Persad-Bissessar is married to Dr. Gregory Bissessar and has one son.

In August 2011, government officials confirmed that Persad-Bissessar had been stricken with dengue fever, and would carry out duties of the State under medical supervision.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Brian Lara

Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM (born 2 May 1969, in Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago) is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history. The BBC radio commentary on the final day of the innings (6 June 1994), by Dave Roberts, was being broadcast around the world live via the BBC World Service network, and in the UK on BBC Radios 1, 2 & 4 as well as the majority of BBC Local radio stations. That evening, as Lara neared the all-time batting record, a huge surge of fans crowded to enter the grounds.

Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004. He is the only batsman to have ever scored a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class games over the course of a senior career. Lara also holds the test record of scoring most number of runs in a single over in a Test match, when he scored 28 runs off an over by Robin Peterson of South Africa in 2003.

Lara's match-winning performance of 153 not out against Australia in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999 has been rated by Wisden as the second best batting performance in the history of Test cricket, next only to the 270 runs scored by Sir Donald Bradman in The Ashes Test match of 1937. Muttiah Muralitharan, rated as the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, and the highest wicket-taker in both Test cricket and in One Day Internationals (ODIs), has hailed Lara as his toughest opponent among all batsmen in the world. Lara was awarded the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World awards in 1994 and 1995 and is also one of only three cricketers to receive the prestigious BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, the other two being Sir Garfield Sobers and Shane Warne. Brian Lara is popularly nicknamed as "The Prince of Port of Spain" or simply "The Prince". On 27 November 2009 he was appointed honorary member of the Order of Australia.

From : www.wikipedia.org