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On October 29, the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) announced that it will confer honorary doctoral degrees on three citizens at its 2025 graduation ceremony on November 19.
They are Peter Elias, honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Israel Khan, honorary Doctor of Laws and Jamwant Maharaj, honorary Doctor of Science.
Gilman Figaro, founder and chairman of the Sunshine Awards and a supporter of Caribbean music, will be named an honorary distinguished fellow.
There have been just eight honorary doctorates given in the field of fine arts at UTT before Mr Elias was chosen and of those, just one, Meiling Esau (2017), is active in the field of fashion and clothing design.
Mr Elias has had a wide-ranging career in the fashion industry, styling and designing for couture as well as producing forward-looking, locally sourced costumes for Carnival with The Lost Tribe.
Mr Khan is the president of the Criminal Bar Association and has led Justitia Omnibus Law Chambers since 1979.
In 2023, the Hugh Wooding Law School recognised him as one of the six most distinguished graduates on its 50th anniversary.
He has served as a tutor at the school for more than three decades.
Mr Maharaj is a former teacher at Naparima College where he made a significant impact teaching chemistry.
He has authored and published books on chemistry for CSEC and CAPE students and continues to coach students through the online service WEXL.
An honorary doctorate, formally honoris causa, is a recognition of the work done by an individual over the course of their career.
It is, in short, recognition of a life's work, usually dedicated to a single sphere or related spheres of activity in society.
The recognition flips the usual order of education, which normally recognises years of study and research culminating in certification by acknowledging a body of work that might well become a subject of academic study.
An award of honoris causa is not an academic achievement and it does not require a history of formal scholarship, but it does recognise achievement and acknowledge the earned impact of an individual on the wider society.
Before his passing, Nelson Mandela was given more than 50 honorary degrees for his work against racism and for peace.
Since 2005, UTT has recognised an eclectic and wide-ranging group of citizens through its honorary doctorates, with such luminaries as Geoffrey Holder, Mungal Patasar, Le Roy Clarke, James Lee Wah and the Mighty Duke among them.
Most notably, only five of those honoured were saluted posthumously, an important precedent in a country which tends to offer its flowers to dedicated citizens as wreaths rather than bouquets they are present to appreciate.
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