Alumni Profiles

Cheryl Brown

Cheryl Brown is an attorney in Jamaica, having been called to the bar five years ago. Graduating with an LLB in 1998 through the University of London International Programmes, she remarks it is "one of the best things I've ever done and has opened up lots of fields". Indeed it has. Cheryl is currently Jamaica's representative on the Inter-Governmental Bioethics Committee(IGBC) of UNESCO in Paris, the first time an Anglophone Caribbean country has been on the committee. Concurrently, Cheryl manages the Office of Sponsored Research at the University of West Indies, and is Chief adjudicator for the Literary Arts for the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. It is, then, no surprise that she features in the International Who's Who of Business and Professional Women.

The alumni office interviewed her in May.

You are involved in so many different projects.  Is your career as an attorney still your career priority?
Yes. I have long wanted to study the law and feel strongly that every one ought to do either a liberal arts or a law degree no matter what they end up becoming. I would not refer to it as a 'career' at the moment, in that I am not out practising the law exclusively. In my present job at the university, however, I do, surprisingly, as much law as several of my class mates from Law School, who are in-house counsels for large firms or for government departments.

For example, as the person who is supposed to protect the Intellectual Property of the Campus, I am always using the law – in contracts and various forms of agreements as well as in the filing of patents and so on. And generally on the Campus, if the senior administrators have a contract which they need to sign, the practice is for them to ask for my opinion. Additionally, I am also involved in ethics and there is a surprising number of lawyers on National Bioethics Committees (NBCs) as well as on the IGBC. 

All things being equal, it looks as if I might end my working life doing Family Law and Conveyancing and I do a bit of this in my spare time.

How much do you think your LLB helped you?
It gave me many career options and opportunities which I had not had before.  In fact, much of what I have done over the past ten years can be directly attributed to having acquired a Law degree. It has been the underpinning for most of my achievements in the last decade.

Was there a particular reason that you chose to study through the University of London International Programmes?
At the time – and even now – I had obligations which prevented my being a face-to-face student. Not only was I then married, but I had two young daughters and am traditional enough not to have wanted to leave them for extended periods of time.

The University of London International Programmes was a godsend for someone like me.

It turned out well, since, having to read all the texts and teach myself – which was what we did at the time – I acquired a fuller and broader grasp of the law.  No one had to distil anything for me. 

You hold many other qualifications and your daughters have both gone to University.  How important a part do you think education plays in shaping one's opportunities?
As we would say: Res ipsa loquitur. The world has shrunk and the cliché is to talk of the ‘global village’.  But it IS a cliché because it is true. The world today is extremely competitive and not only is one degree not usually enough, but a variety of interests and qualifications – even if not all tertiary – is extremely important if one is to really self-actualise and be competitive.

This, of course, is for those of an academic frame of mind.  I have always maintained that if you are to be a dressmaker, be the best one there is and so on. But, in any event, it is education or training which one must have to be able to use the opportunities which present themselves.

This, coupled with being in the right place, having the right attitude and being receptive will usually take one far.  Education by itself though, is sometimes  not enough; a little luck is often necessary.

Let us not forget, as well, that entrepreneurial opportunities are also there for those who do not wish to work for others, and having the right education/training is essential.

No one will deny that there is still a bit of nepotism and the importance of having the right contacts exists, but I have also noticed that if you have the confidence which knowing your subject matter gives you, it is obvious to all and people will listen. Your opinions will matter. That is an important starting point.

In your opinion, what is the toughest challenge women face in the workplace?
Deny it though one might, women, I have found, always seem to be having to prove themselves in ways which are not asked of men. Just recently, my niece – who is a paediatrician – was being interviewed on the telephone by a university hospital in Canada. They asked her if she had children and when she said yes, the next question was who would look after them if she came to do postgraduate work.

Men are not asked questions like this.

I would not like to prioritise the challenges – there is that of salary differentials and having to deal with the ‘old boy network’ which is alive and well – but overall, there is still general stereotyping, negative stereotyping in this part of the world, although my generation has made significant strides and we are slowly but surely being represented in the Boardroom.

Generally, though, to achieve this, women have to work harder and be more qualified, to stay in the same place or to be perceived as being competent.

I will not live to see genuine equality – except in the professions – between men and women in the work place.

A telling example – and this is in the United States – is that the day before the American elections, it is said that Michelle Obama had a better resume than her husband (or one as good as). But nothing trumps being President. Since then, this highly educated and competent woman is being admired more for her fashion sense than for anything else. Again the stereotyping. I hope this ends soon.

My daughters' generation is interesting to watch because they are not prepared, for the most part, to be as accepting as we were and so the changes re perception of a woman’s role are happening for them.  They are MAKING this happen.

Do you think opportunities for woman have improved in the Caribbean?
Yes. In the past decade or so.  But at a price, as I suggested in the response to question 5 and because so many more have gone into the professions where they can and do work for themselves.

The Law, in Jamaica, is one of the greatest examples of progress.

For the first time we have a female Chief Justice; a female Attorney General/Minister of Justice and a female Director of Public Prosecutions (whom I happened to have taught English Language and Literature from Fourth Form to Sixth) all at the same time.  But this tends to happen more in the professions – engineering, law, architecture, medicine.  Much more needs to be done in the private sector where, for the most part, the females are bunched in middle management.

This defies the statistics which prove that more women have had tertiary education than men, particularly in this generation.

One of the repercussions of women becoming more educated is that the vast majority of professional women in Jamaica remain unmarried, or the marriages do not last. This is quite noticeable. And a pity. And the major reason is that most men do not like having a wife who is more educated than they are. The ‘price’ to which I keep referring.

We apparently cannot have it all.

You recently moved into the field of ethics. Tell us about your role as Jamaica’s representative to the IGBC (UNESCO, Paris)
The IGBC consists of representatives of 36 countries. Members are elected and each serves for four years. The countries are from the North and the South and includes the Vatican at the moment.

One can imagine, therefore, how discussions can range over a wide area and be filled with different perspectives and why consensus is difficult, if not impossible in certain areas.

As Jamaica's representative I have to keep up with the literature; know what UNESCO is planning in training and education in ethics in all areas of the world; be aware of the agenda items for the sessions and be prepared to discuss them. I have always to know what my Government’s position is and why it holds it and be able to articulate and justify it. Things become interesting when governments change and views on certain topics change overnight. There is still, however, a little 'wriggle room' for individual opinions, within the framework of the overall opinion of the country.

The meetings which I attend are once or twice a year and are in Paris. They are sometimes just the IGBC and at other times joint sessions of the IGBC and the umbrella committee – the IBC (International Bioethics Committee).

Do you find this role demanding?
I am not a trained ethicist. Not all members of the IGBC are. But I have written a Code and Policy on Research Ethics for the UWI and staged two international ethics conferences here. I presented a paper on the Law and Ethics at one of them. And now that the National Bioethics Committee has been formed, the interest in ethics has been cemented.

There was to have been a week-long conference (three days of the IBC and three of the IGBC) in Mexico City, May 3rd to 9th 2009 and I was asked to make a presentation to the IBC. Well, as we all know, the outbreak of swine flu put an end to that and things have been postponed. The point was, I was a bit lacking in confidence re my ability to stand there in front of the world experts in ethics but it was a big honour and I spent three weeks preparing this presentation. It took a lot out of me and I hope I will still get a chance to do it.

One has to keep up with views and with what is happening in the field and this involves a lot of reading. Being ‘moral’ and knowing what one feels is 'right' will not suffice. One has to approach each situation from the ethical point of view and to know what these sometimes competing views are.

There is no one view; cultural differences have an impact on what is viewed as ethical. This is part of what makes attending these sessions and being part of the debate, not so much demanding, but challenging and interesting. 

In addition, personal views are not always what one has to posit. It is essential that one not deviate from the official view of the country one is representing unless one is asked to do something in one's own right. Sometimes it is difficult to remember this.

Last October (2008) in Paris and continuing this year, the topic being discussed is cloning. For some countries it is a scientific matter; for some it is religious and for others, it is cultural or all of the above.

The difficulty is that ethics is not a discipline and several other disciplines (medicine, law, for example) wish always to define what it is. It can, at times, appear to be a shifting target.

You used to be teacher.  What would you say was the most enjoyable and hardest aspect of this profession?
I never found anything hard about teaching at the time. The salary was terrible and, in the end, that was a major factor in why I left the profession. And, given the subjects I taught, I was always marking essays and grammar, and that I did not love. But it was a natural fit, I loved the interaction and to this day, it gives me great pleasure to have ex-students – some of whom are now teachers and most of whom have children – thank me for teaching them.

Just last month at a banquet, the Director of Public Prosecutions was the guest speaker and she took the time in the beginning to recognise, she said, "the person who taught me to love language and literature...". I felt quite overwhelmed, especially since this had all happened so many years ago.    One feels as if one is contributing to the development of the society in a very tangible way.

I loved seeing the light come on in the face of a student when they finally ‘got it’.  I once taught a 'repeating Fourth Form' and they were quite hostile.  They would not cooperate and were angry at having to be in school. And then, one day, a particularly uncooperative girl revealed that she had actually gone to the library and borrowed a book. All on her own; without coercion.

To most people this is a simple and unimportant thing. To some of us who were/are teachers, this is a wonderful experience.

Past students still come up to me and say that they remember my teaching them Macbeth and this ability to influence so many people for good and to engender the love of learning and to create curiosity, is beyond words. I left teaching 26 years ago!

(As I wrote this sentence, incredibly my phone rang and a female told me she was inviting me to a 30-year reunion of her class from Fifth Form High School. People were flying in from London and Toronto etc. I told her that this was beyond coincidence, read some of what I had just written and she agreed that the coincidence was startling).

Do you think young people today have the perception that education is a waste of time in light of so many just wanting to be rich and famous?
This is an entire interview in itself. There is a perceived, general 'dumbing down' of the society – worldwide, some say – in the traditional forms of education and several of us older folk are on the verge of becoming 'dinosaurs', especially when we make literary references to Chaucer, Shakespeare and what used to be considered a traditional education. No more can we say: "Et tu, Brute?", or "I wandered lonely as a cloud..." and expect our children to know automatically of what we speak. And if, like me, you are not so proficient in the technological arena, you are considered a bit past it. Education is now more relevant.

We tend to have now the professions and more emphasis on training.

The internet and computer generally and all the attendant toys – ipods etc – have contributed.  It is easier to access a summary on the net than to go to the library or to read the book itself.

Then there are shows like American Idol where one can become rich and famous overnight; the adulation and wealth given to people in sports and so on.

This generation moves in general more quickly and there is little time for reflection. Where once one wrote a letter and waited several days for it to arrive at its destination and then for the response, now, one has only to press 'send' and voila!

They have also seen parents who toiled for years over the books and who have very little disposable income to show for it, even if they seem to be content. Our generation values being articulate, for example, but what is the price put on a lovely turn of phrase?

But, there is, in Jamaica, an interesting phenomenon which is sure to have a negative effect on societal relations in the near future. At the University of the West Indies, Mona, the ratio of female students to male is 80:20. Even in the areas that were once male-dominated.

The women see education as the primary route to independence and recognition, if not wealth, and the boys leave school and head for the quick money which might come from selling, insurance and other similar jobs.

This is, of course, a generalisation but the imbalance is horrendous.

Yet again, there are tertiary institutions where the subjects taught are more practical – Business Administration; Graphic Arts; Architecture; Music – and the ratio is a bit better there.

I am not sure what all this ultimately means, really, and whether being educated means one cannot be rich and famous. Perhaps some of this generation are aiming to have it all.

But, despite this apparent paradigm shift, I have seen where some of the enduring values remain and there is a growing awareness that there is a void that must be filled.

Is there anything else you would like to be involved in, in the future?
I started in teaching and it is my first love. I had toyed with the idea of combining teaching and the law – teaching the law – but am not able to see how this could materialise.

I think it is much too late to start anything new, but recently I became a member of the National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica which was just established in the past two months, so that will take up a bit of time when we have to ponder issues like abortion and cloning and so on and deliver a position.

You play tennis three times a week.  Where do you find the time?
If there is something you really want to do, you make the time. When I was doing the LLB, I was married, had two young children, worked full-time. I found 20 hours per week, every week, to study.

I live with a lot of stress and the tennis is not only for enjoyment (which it is) but is a great stress-buster plus it energises me. On a light note, I tell people that every ball has a name and that is why I never miss. I go home after work and sort things out and then go to the Pegasus Hotel, which is only five minutes drive from my home, and play for an hour or an hour and a half on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturday afternoon. I did this even while at Law School.

Each of us who plays there regularly has a tennis name. Mine is Venus.

Who has had the greatest influence on your life?
This is the easiest question to answer. My mother and my father – both of whom died within six months of each other in 2008. Neither of them, to the uninformed observer, was ‘successful’ as the world tends to define success and they were not educated to the tertiary level, but they were the wisest people I have known and instilled in their four daughters a love of learning and a sense of interior certainty. They also had two of the largest funerals I have ever seen which was a testimony to the way they lived their lives.They were both extremely generous people.

My mother was very down-to-earth and full of little sayings such as "common sense is not common at all" and "all these educated fools" whom she heard on the radio or saw on the television. It was from my mother I first heard the expression: "If you do not stand for something, you will fall for nothing". For her, the recipe for success was common sense, confidence and integrity.

They also told us, long before Barack Obama came on the scene, that we could do and be anything we wanted. We believed them.

What both parents placed the most emphasis on, however, was family, love and loyalty. My father told me – perhaps not original – that he had never heard anyone say, on their deathbed: "I wish I had spent more time in the office".

When I was called to the Bar in the Supreme Court in Jamaica, my father, who was then in his late 80s, with two of his brothers (they are all now deceased) were the first to arrive to witness the ceremony. My mother was ill and unable to climb the stairs.

It was a very emotional occasion.

You love literature. Who is your favourite character from any literary work and why?
A further example of my being a dinosaur!  Especially since I love to read poetry.I have two – one is /was a living human being and one is fictional.

The fictional character is Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. No matter how many novels I read, Elizabeth retains her hold on me – or, perhaps it is Austen’s depiction in that subtle, ironic way.

I like Elizabeth's character because it is so complex and she is articulate and witty. Not the typical, submissive, simpering female of her time, waiting to be married and seeing every available man as a possible partner. Austen depicts the irony in Elizabeth's seeing the failings in Mr. Darcy – his arrogance; his judgmental personality; his snobbery – and her not realising that she is almost his mirror image. It does not take long to realise that both the pride and the prejudice apply to Mr. Darcy as well as to Elizabeth, even though she is warm and endearing compared to his apparent coldness.

The way in which Austen presents her gradual, incremental self-realisation; the feelings that she might be mistaken and her ability to acknowledge this, is for me, a masterpiece of writing.

The real human being is Diana Trilling in her book entitled The Beginning of the Journey. This is a counterpoint to her husband's book, The Middle of the Journey.

Diana Trilling wrote this book after her husband had died, and this in itself is telling. In his work, which reveals the ups and downs of his literary/academic career, partly because he was Jewish, he mentions his marriage to Diana, but one is only vaguely aware of Diana as his shadow or his accessory. He speaks fondly of her but her views and opinions are not mentioned. Lionel Trilling was regarded – still is – as one of the finest literary minds of his time.

In her book, the situation is balanced and one realises that she was an intellectual in her own right and gets a glimpse of what it would have been like to walk always in her husband’s reflected glory – "People will celebrate one member of a household but not two." We realise that Lionel Trilling might not have been what he was, had it not been for his wife – "I had no hesitation in reshaping Lionel's prose; in draft after draft of his Matthew Arnold, I removed, added to, or otherwise altered what he had written".

Diana Trilling writes extremely well and is forthright in telling her side of the story without being in any way bitter or angry – "We lived the whole of our early lives under the rule of postponement; life was not in the present, it was always ahead of us". There are occasionally little flares of frustration but things were what they were and that was just how women were perceived in her time. Women were present, they were valued, but they served the drinks.

Alexander McLean

While working at a Ugandan Hospice in 2003, Alexander McLean (left in picture) made a chance visit to a maximum security prison. Appalled by conditions on death row, Alexander set about changing this. After some initial fundraising he set up the African Prisons Project (APP). It is a now growing charity run primarily by volunteers and young professionals.

Based in London, with its headquarters in Uganda, the organisation works with, and empowers prisoners and the administration to refurbish prison hospitals, libraries and provide legal aid. APP aims to restore three key areas that are not being properly addressed: Education, Justice and Health Care. Alexander is a Lord Mansfield Scholar of Lincoln’s Inn; he is the youngest Fellow of the Beacon Trust, an honorary Assistant Commissioner of Prisons of Zambia and a Magistrate on the Nottingham Bench. He has won various awards including UK Charity Volunteer of the Year 2006, UK Young Philanthropist of the Year 2007, University of Nottingham Alumni of the Year 2007 and UK Graduate of the Year 2007.

In 2008 he received his Master of Laws from the University of London International Programmes. In his spare time he works on the wards of Trinity Hospice Clapham, London and enjoys travelling.

The alumni office interviewed him in April.

You seem to be a very busy person? Did that play a part in deciding to do your Master in Laws through the University of London International Programmes?
Yes, I mainly live and work in Uganda so it was impossible for me to do a full-time course in the UK. I run an NGO so that took up a lot of my time during the LLM course.

Would you recommend studying through the University of London International Programmes?
Yes, I found them very helpful and I was able to keep up my work commitments abroad as well as sitting as a magistrate in Nottingham every month.

Was the course relevant in terms of your current job?
Very much so. I work within the criminal justice system in Uganda and it’s great to have expertise in this area as well as being able to compare different systems around the world.

You are the Founder and Director General of the African Prisons Project (APP). What drove you to set this up at such a young age?
I came to Uganda on my Gap Year with a palliative care organization which connected me with some terminally ill prisoners in Mulago Hospital in Kampala. Seeing their condition and the way they were treated prompted me to visit the prisons and to want to help. APP grew out of that.

Why Uganda? Is there a family connection?
I was interested in the work of Hospice Africa Uganda and I also wanted an adventure!

What did you see on your visit to death row that made you decide to help change conditions for the prisoners?
The cells are hugely overcrowded, they had little or no provision to health care – the sickbays had no water, electricity, beds and very tiny windows – and there was no access to education. Above all of that was the incredible welcome and general community spirit harboured in those walls, it really is like no place else.

Do you think that governments are to blame for poor conditions?
Partly. While it’s true there is little interest in prisoners’ welfare from the government it’s also true that they are massively hampered by the lack of budget in so many other areas like health or education. They have little choice but to ignore prisoners given the multitude of other problems and the general attitude of the public to prisoners’ rights – they have to win votes after all. This is why there was such a pressing need for NGO work in the field as there are many other NGOs – over a thousand in Uganda with the word ‘AIDS’ in their name alone – working in various other fields. Prisons are sadly neglected.

Out of your three objectives (Education, Justice and Healthcare) for APP, which would you like to see improvements in soonest?
Justice probably underpins all else. No matter how many qualifications an inmate can get in prison or how healthy they are, if you’re wrongfully charged and sentenced to twenty years or even death than prison is failing as an institution – such cases simply create bitterness and resentment, both of which will almost certainly correlate to the failure of rehabilitation.

Do you think that your three objectives are ones that affect a large proportion of people in Africa?
It’s hard to generalize about an entire continent, but these things are the three fundamentals by which countries are judged – if you look, for instance, at the HDI then practically all the categories relate to one of the three. So, yes, certainly in Uganda these are things that relate to most people, but that doesn’t mean that prisoners should be ignored!

Do you think that society sometimes tries to ignore issues that do not affect them?
Of course, it’s human nature. All we ask for is that people hear us out and not switch off at the word ‘prison’ and immediately jump to the conclusion that we intend on having mass murderers released and that we want to make prison better than life outside the walls – both of which we’re often accused of doing.

If you were to encourage people to be active and play a part in making the world better for all, what would you tell them?
Find a cause that you believe in and find one that is neglected then commit to it for a substantial amount of time. One of the hardest things NGOs face is uncertainty over the future: if you promise to donate, even a little bit, try and donate once a year for five or ten years or more; if you want to volunteer or work for the charity then be as proactive as possible – I always think it’s those people who make everyone else’s life easier that are the lifeblood of charities.

What do you hope APP will have achieved in the next ten years?
I hope we have expanded into several more countries with a substantial amount of successful and sustainable projects under our belt.

What would you like to have achieved personally in the next five years?
I would like to have qualified as an advocate and be working my way up the legal system in Uganda as a voice calling for reform.

You like traveling. Where is the one place you would like to visit and why?
Svalbard, to see the polar bears.

To find out more about the African Prisons Project please visit their website: www.africanprisons.org

Rolph Payet

Four degrees south of the equator lies the Archipelago of the Seychelles and the home and workplace of alumnus Rolph Payet.Rolph studied with the University of London International Programmes gaining a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Environmental Economics in 2006. He is currently the Special Adviser on the Environment to the President of Seychelles. He is also a Harvard graduate and Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2007 for lead author which was awarded to the IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

The alumni office interviewed him in early January 2009.

You studied a lot while holding various post with the Government of Seychelles? Were your employers supportive of your studies?

My employers were very supportive of my studies; however most of my studies were done outside official working hours, except for my PhD which was much more demanding. For my PhD, my employer granted me a month every year of paid study leave.

Would you recommend someone undertake a degree through the University of London International Programmes and, if so, why?

Absolutely. The courses are flexible, with many options (electives) to choose from. Although I could pace my studies, the courses were built around actual semesters, which enabled me to maintain study momentum and set targets for completing the various course modules.

Did fitting in study around your job present a difficult balancing act?

Yes, it can be difficult and in my view requires some basic skills, such as good time management, note-taking skills and reading skills. Many students underestimate the usefulness of mastering these skills during their studies and in real life.

Have you found the course content of your degree relevant to the job you are doing today?

Highly relevant, although many of the examples were from the agricultural sector. The course material considered the theory and in many cases considered practical real-life examples. This is important when studying subjects like environment and dealing with abstract concepts in economics.

How involved have you been with other alumni activities (with the University of London or other institutions)?

I have had limited involvement in view of the demands of my responsibilities and since I reside outside the UK it is not practical for me to attend events. However, I have offered careers guidance to prospective graduates, and remain available to do so.

What have been some of the high points since being Special Advisor to the President on Environmental Issues?

High points have been the opportunity given to me to establish the first University in Seychelles. Initially it was a journey of discovery, as I learned of the transformational power of a University in society, and how it can influence the future development of a country. I am now even more convinced that without a University Seychelles cannot take its next developmental steps. I am especially grateful to all the people that have contributed so generously to the cause. Our funds keep increasing and more people are giving.

Supporting the international vision of the President to advance climate change and biodiversity issues has also brought some rewards. The Global Island Partnership, which the President championed in 2005, has now been officially recognised by the Convention on Biological diversity, and my work on global oceans and island policy is increasingly being recognised by the international community. The personal invitation of the UN Secretary General to address a high level panel at the UN General Assembly was evidence of this recognition.

What are your principal aims over the next 5 years?

I aim to continue to push the global agenda on climate change and biodiversity in small islands. I want to bring the business and corporate world on board and my knowledge of economics and business will come in handy, as it helps me to relate to their way of thinking and how we can search for practical solutions to some of the emerging environmental issues. I particularly want to continue to focus on marine issues. At the national level I will continue to influence government policy on environmental, in particular coastal management issues. However, I have also started to work with certain non-governmental organisations and building their capacity to respond to climate change.

The main aim is, of course, to get the University up and running. 2009 will be a crucial year as we start putting the different building blocks together

On a personal level, I need to find a bit more time to pursue my research and publish scientific papers. This is important within academic circles and my aim is to publish at least 3 peer reviewed papers every year.

What are the problems and concerns you think you will face?

In my work, I have only one unresolved problem – TIME. Being on a small island has its challenges such as lack of good professionals, slow internet connections and,  of course,  travelling. Travelling is a necessary evil to build partnerships, advance projects and issues, and general social networking. I believe in building and nurturing relationships and I value the interactions and support I get from my international community of colleagues and supporters. Without them I would not be able to achieve this kind of progress.

You hold many qualifications from Universities all over the world, including Harvard. Would you say that continuing to develop your skills is important for career development?

A must. My daily passion is to learn something new every day. Life is a learning window. You learn from the young and old, the wise and the foolish. The pursuit of knowledge has been a lifelong passion. My education, however, has taught me that it’s what you do with the knowledge that counts, not how much knowledge you have. This ability is a gift and such a gift is meant to be shared, contribute to solutions and make the world a better living place.

You are chairman of the Seychelles University Foundation. What are your hopes for the educational system there?

In doing the ground work to establish the University, I realised that it cannot stand on its own – a University needs good students, implying good primary and secondary schools. In 2007, the President launched a national education reform process in which I have been fully involved, and next year we are going to implement measures to improve the quality of education in our schools, build confidence in our teachers and also offer students opportunities to develop their potential either by following an academic track to the proposed University, or the possibility of going back to University from the world of work. This is one lesson I have learnt from the University of London International Programmes, lifelong learning has to be central to any educational programme. Once the adults are convinced about learning, then the kids will get interested as well...and the cycle goes on.

What is your major concern at present regarding climate change?

My major concern is that many people think that the problem of climate change will just go away, and powerful governments will be able to solve the problem. Climate change politics is a very complex issue – how do you convince an American driver to change from a high octane car to an electric buggy? How do you convince a hotel developer to build his hotel further inland instead of on the beach? Many consumers and companies are now aware, but we still lack political commitment at the international level. Clearly, oil prices have driven the message home, but we are not out of the woods yet. The scientific evidence is overwhelming; we need decisive action by world leaders.

As Chairman and CEO at Sea Level Rise Foundation and living in an archipelago such as the Seychelles do you feel that climate change and issues such as rising sea levels are more important to you?

The issue of sea level rise is already affecting many islands in the Pacific, and close by – the Maldives. This is no simple matter as it questions the ability of these people to remain as a nation and maintain their 3,000-year old traditions. The foundation has one mission – to preserve the island home. We feel that, assuming world leaders take action now, we can adapt to the changes in sea level rise through better planning, capacity building, and awareness and minimise the loss. We draw our hope from the people of the Netherlands who already live below the sea level. We believe we can develop approaches to live in a post-sea level rise world.

How did you feel when you shared the Nobel Prize for lead author which was awarded to the IPCC and Al Gore in 2007?

Excited and proud to be Seychellois. We are a small nation and I never thought a Nobel Prize would be achievable by a Seychellois. I was wrong, we can...anyone can. I never felt the need to adorn my wall with my degree certificates - my Nobel Prize Certificate hangs proudly in my office.

What is the one thing you would like to do or see in your lifetime?

Go into space...well OK, I would like to see a robust network of conservation areas in Seychelles which is self-financed, a solution for the climate change problem and on a personal level – transform my house and car to run on solar energy.

What would you most like to be doing 5 years from now?

I like my current activities as it challenges all of my knowledge and skills. Solving problems of national importance is not to be taken lightly as it impacts on people. It is an enormous responsibility but one I thoroughly enjoy. I work in an innovative and forward thinking environment which enables me to contribute to the long-term development of the country and be part of charting the next steps for Seychelles. It is an immense privilege which I will continue to be grateful for. After this, we’ll see. However, I must confess: my wish is to retire, say around 60, in a small office at the University of Seychelles, contributing to the development of future leaders.

Rolph holds degrees from the following universities:

• PhD Environmental Science (University of Kalmar, Sweden)
• JFK School of Government (Harvard University, USA)
• PG D Applied Environment Economics (University of London International Programmes, UK)
• MSc Coastal Science  (University of Ulster, UK)
• MBA (University of Surrey, UK)
• BSc (Hons.) Biochemistry (University of East Anglia, UK)

Rolph recently launched a new course module (2009) for the University of London International Programmes and gave a special lecture on climate change and international development, watch the videos - for further information on his work you can also visit: www.rolphpayet.com and/or www.rolphpayet.blogspot.com [external links]

Philip Taylor

Phillip Taylor was awarded an MBE for public service in 1994. He graduated from the University of London External Programme in 1989 with an LLB completed by distance learning. He has served in the armed forces and was Staff Officer to the Director of the Territorial Army and Cadets from 1980-1982. Having served both at home and overseas, he retired from the Army on completion of his six year territorial engagement in 1983 and worked for a number of years in the Ministry of Defence.

Phillip has also been an elected member of two local authorities, South Oxfordshire District Council, and the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1991, he is currently a practising barrister-at-law at Richmond Green Chambers and also at BarristerWeb, specialising in road traffic and personal injury contentious litigation. In his spare time he takes winter holidays skiing and ice skating in the Alps.

The alumni office interviewed him in March 2009.

You are currently working as a Barrister. Have you found the course content of your LLB degree relevant to your job?
Yes, it was highly relevant. The most important elements of the LLB were the compulsory subjects at intermediate levels and for Part 1 of the Finals, and my selected choice of the law of evidence, which I found essential for Bar School and Pupillage.

Would you recommend someone undertake a degree through the University of London International Programmes and, if so, why?
Yes. Many of the learners I teach today are distance learners who hold down full time jobs and have a family and a home to run. I believe they are all special people because they go that one step farther than learners in full time education. For nearly 20 years, I have been a distance tutor with the National Extension College at Cambridge, and I have tutored people from very wide backgrounds, and on all continents (except The Antarctic). Most learners have additional experiences which often make them very knowledgeable on general matters and have much common sense and very strong motivation.

You have continued to study throughout your career. How important would you say it is to return to education at different times in your life?
It is very important as education never really stops for anyone. In my profession, I am required to complete 12 hours of continuous professional development (CPD) each year so I returned to teach in higher education and was awarded a PGCE in 2008. Whilst I have some reservations about CPD being a bit of a money-making scam, I can see its worth although any professional will keep up-to-date without being forced to do so.

You have served in the armed forces. Do you think it changed you?
Yes, I am a former serving member of the Intelligence Corps as a volunteer, and I was a Staff Officer during Operation Corporate (“The Falklands Conflict”). Army training has influenced me because it drew out my abilities to present information to senior officers and to understand the approach needed with senior personnel (and others like the Judiciary and senior politicians) and well known people with challenging behaviour who sometimes become my clients.

Do you think we should return to the days of conscription to maintain order amongst youths of today?
No. I am opposed to conscription because it would destroy the modern concept of the military obligation which is based on the volunteer concept where the soldiers are not pressed into something but want to do it for themselves. As a teacher of the 14-19 group, I would like to see more emphasis on the responsibilities which go with the human rights enacted by ‘New’ Labour in 1997 which now needs an update. The loss of effective physical discipline (if it ever existed) needs a new approach and boundaries need to be drawn to indicate what is, or is not, acceptable modern behaviour under our diversity policies.

Could you tell us a little bit about your time working at the Ministry of Defence?
I was a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence and held a number of interesting jobs in the clerical and executive grades where I managed staff. As a member of the admin grades, the work was paper based in those days although computer systems were just being introduced when I read for the Bar. I have a high regard for the modern civil service which does a very good job but takes a lot of undeserved criticism which it cannot really respond to. The work I did was generally classified so I maintain a discretion concerning my specific responsibilities although I spent half my career with the Army and half with the RAF.

Do you think it’s good to have a varied career path?
Yes. In modern employment there is no such thing as a ‘job for life’ which was what I faced with when I started full time work in 1972 when people who moved jobs regularly might be considered ‘suspect’!. Variety gives a gloss and one meets people from cross section of society if you have a wide portfolio of work, as actors (and barristers) do.

What were your main objectives when you worked in local government?
To represent the views of my local electorate and to ensure that the policies I was elected to carry out were properly executed. During my second term of office, I found the obligations on local authorities has increased dramatically without commensurate funding and I have fears that the system has become too bureaucratic since the Local Government Act 2000, and we need a re-think on the role of our providers of local services, and the funding of the services in the future as the Council Tax is a pen-pushers relic of the past and should be scrapped as it accounts for such a small proportion of an overall local authority budget today.

What do you think is the main issue local authorities in the UK face today?
Balancing more work delegated by Parliament with less money voted by Parliament. The public get a misconception of what elected councillors actually do and I would like to see less politics and more consultation at local level. I am particularly encouraged by the Sustainable Communities Act which gained cross-party support and will underpin local rights and consultation procedures once all councils sign up to it.

How did you feel when you received the letter from Buckingham Palace about your MBE?
I was quite surprised initially and honoured that so many people had taken the trouble to recommend me by writing out detailed nomination papers saying why I should be honoured. I saw it then as a ‘thank you’ for the work I had done for public service, with the help of many other people who were not honoured. It would be churlish to refuse such an honour in my view because many people spend much time making these nominations, and it was a big ‘thank you’ to the many people and organisations I had worked with.

You like skiing and ice skating. Do you think you will be good enough to make the team for 2012?
Alas, no, although it doesn’t stop me watching although it is a dangerous sport.
The Winter Olympics are in Vancouver in 2010 and my wife (who comes from Vancouver) and I hope to attend as spectators and journalists this time. I would love to take part but I don’t think my insurance company would be too pleased so I feel my competing days are over but there is always the thrill of the downhill to watch live.

What is the one thing you would like to do or see in your lifetime?
I would like us to go back to the Moon and have the facility to develop sustainable life outside the Earth in my lifetime. We are almost there with the International Space Station now. I will be forever grateful to NASA for the digital era and how it has helped education generally, and I will be fascinated to see what follows ‘digital’ later this century!
 
What would you most like to be doing five years from now?
To complete my next book on the policies of the common law, and to develop my internet podcasts for the next phase of remote digital teaching as I build up my legal practice during what is going to be a very challenging decade.