The Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) presented its 10th anniversary awards gala in six categories before announcing an endowment fund and 10 scholarships in celebration of the milestone at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel last Thursday (September 14).

The event culminates the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the merger of the former Mona School of Business (MSB) and the Department of Management Studies (DOMS) to form the self-professed premier business school in the Caribbean. 

Addressing the gala, current executive director of the MSBM, Dr David McBean announced that 10 scholarships (five undergraduate and five postgraduate) will be awarded to students who have demonstrated excellence in their chosen field of study.

“These scholarships will be named in honour of some of our outstanding pioneers, staff and other stakeholders”, McBean explained as he urged companies to contribute to scholarships for students, both to celebrate excellence as well as to help needy students complete their courses of study.

Noting that “many corporations already give but the needs are great”, McBean said “as a charity we annually spend a significant percentage of our surpluses in improving both the MSBM and the UWI. But like any good company we have built significant reserves, not only for a rainy day, but to reinvest in our business. It is now time to move to the next level to ensure that we have a mechanism to properly structure our financial affairs, and to provide avenues for partnership.”

McBean announced “the launch of the MSBM endowment fund to be started with [half a] billion dollars of MSBM assets and invited the private sector in particular “to match or exceed our initial investment, so that next year when we gather, the executive director can announce that we have an endowment fund not of [half a] billion dollars, but in excess of one billion dollars.”

McBean explained that “this endowment provides us with a transparent and efficient way to manage our investments into the future, but more importantly will provide a structured and transparent way for you, our partners, to contribute to MSBM. We will also be calling on you to participate in the governance of the fund, as well as being advisers. So this will be a true partnership.” 

He said further that “these funds will be used to ensure that the next generation of academics and students will be well prepared to meet the challenges of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, which will mean that both the public and private sector will continue to reap the benefits of world class teaching, learning and research at the world-ranked MSBM. I am therefore hopeful that you will respond positively to this request to match our own endeavor to advance education for the benefit of the society, and to help us manage these funds.”

The 10th anniversary gala honoured former heads and executive directors of the MSBM including: professors Randolph Williams, Gordon Shirley, Alvin Wint, Neville Ying, Evan Duggan, Paul Simmonds, Densil Williams; doctors Anne Crick, Noel Cowell, Cezley Sampson and current executive director Dr David McBean. Posthumous awards were also named in recognition of the late Dr Marshall Hall, Dr George Wadinambiaratchi and Locksley Lindo.

Turning to corporate Jamaica, the MSBM presented awards to “Outstanding Business Leaders“ Courtney Campbell, JP, President & CEO, VM Group; Jeffrey Hall, executive vice chairman & CEO, Pan Jamaica Group Limited; Senator Don Wehby, group CEO, GraceKennedy Limited and Christopher Zacca, CD, President & CEO, Sagicor Group.

Recognised in the “Emerging Business Leaders” category were Kimala Bennet, founder & CEO, The LAB; Berisford Grey, President & CEO, Sygnus Capital and Xesus Johnson, CEO, Supreme Ventures Gaming Limited. Everton Anderson CD, CEO, National Health Fund was named “Outstanding Public Sector CEO”.

In the “Distinguished Alumnus“ category were Earl Jarrett, CEO, Jamaica National Group; Audrey Tugwell Henry, president & CEO, Scotia Group Jamaica and Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman, Chief of Defence Staff, Jamaica Defence Force.

The MSBM also recognised ‘business partners’, George Willie, philanthropist; JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Vincent Hosang Family Foundation.

Commenting on the MSBM 10th anniversary gala awardees, McBean said that the selection committee had the arduous but pleasurable task of whittling down to 11 outstanding awardees in business and the public sector, based on merit.

“You are all leaders that typify the values and performance that we would wish for our graduates to aspire to, and I wish to applaud you. Of the nine private sector leaders, and two public sector leaders more than half are graduates of the UWI and MSBM, and even if you exclude our distinguished alumni (my favourite category) this would still hold true. If our students are our greatest products as a professional school, then we have done extremely well”, he declared.

McBean specially commended the business partner awardees for “going above and beyond the call to help in some cases establish the MSBM, and in others to sustain us…and for giving generously not only of resources but their time to the MSBM and UWI.” 

Declaring that “It is clear that both in terms of its leadership, faculty and students, the MSBM has been seminal in providing persons trained in management to Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, Dr McBean said “ We at MSBM are proud to be a part of the UWI, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and is also ranked in the top [1.5 per cent of universities globally]”.

“At MSBM and its predecessors (DOMS/IOB/MSB) we have been blessed with great leadership, who have successively built an impressive organization, and on whose shoulders we stand”, he said.

Homage was paid to the late Dr. Marshall Hall who was largely responsible for DOMS being formed out of a unit in the Department of Economics, and became the first head of department. Hall would also have been involved in the seminal study and research that would eventually lead to the formation of the Institute of Business, which became the Mona School of Business.

Also receiving special mention were Dr. Neville Ying , who was instrumental in the USAID project that would eventually become the Institute of Business, and Dr. Cezley Sampson who would become a successor to Dr. Ying as the project lead and would serve as the first Executive Director of the Institute of Business. Dr. Ying later served as an executive director.

Dr McBean noted that many MSBM leaders would go on to have leadership roles in both the public and private sectors, and become national figures in their own right including the late Marshall Hall, Neville Ying, Cezley Sampson, Professor Alvin Wint and Professor Gordon Shirley among others. Two of the last four principals of the Mona Campus are former executive directors, Professors Shirley & Williams.