DR Herbert Thompson was on Monday re-elected president of Northern Caribbean University (NCU) for a fifth consecutive five-year term during a meeting of the University's Board of Governors in Mandeville, Manchester.

He is the longest serving head of the Seventh-day Adventist owned and operated educational institution.

"I am pleased, grateful and humbled to have been asked to lead the university for another five-year term," said Dr Thompson. "I pledge full commitment to the team of administrators, faculty and staff as we work to enlighten, mold and prepare our students to meet the challenges, which await them."

Dr Thompson is an educator and motivational speaker, an administrator and a visionary, who loathes the ordinary and embraces commitment and dedication.

He has been serving as the institution's president since 1990, spearheading its transition from West Indies College.

"NCU continues to play a critical role in providing opportunities for thousands of students through scholarships, work-study programme, community outreach, youth-empowerment and Christian witnessing. These will be enhanced as we go forward and as God guides and strengthens us," he said.

Newly elected chairman of the NCU Board of Governors, Pastor Everett Brown, in extending his personal congratulation to Dr Thompson, said "NCU under his visionary leadership has been a beacon of light to many, providing holistic education to thousands of individuals who were condemned to a life of ignorance and poverty."

Dr Thompson is the author of Rural Gumption, an autobiography which describes life and its attendant challenges in rural Jamaica and how these can be surmounted by applying good sense.

Jamaica, Rebuilding the Walls is another of his publications, which calls on every committed Jamaican to set about the business of rebuilding our beloved country, eliminating the divisions that have kept us bound for such a long time.

Dr Thompson is a biochemist who has done extensive research and made several presentations on the treatment and management of diabetes mellitus.

A highly respected member of the Jamaican community, he is a Justice of the Peace for Manchester, and is a recipient of the National Honour, Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD) awarded by the Government of Jamaica. His services to the wider community include:

* independent member of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ);

* director, Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited;

* deputy chairman, Bank of Nova Scotia Building Society;

* member, the University Council of Jamaica; and

* member, Joint Committee for Tertiary Education

He is married to Avery (nee Douce) and they are the proud parents of two daughters -- Dianne and Kamulah.

Presently, NCU is co-owned and co-operated by the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Atlantic Caribbean Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, which both came out of a reorganisation of the former West Indies Union Conference on November 29.

On that day the various stakeholders of the 104-year-old institution, signed 'the NCU Accord', formalising their commitment to its sustainable growth and development.

NCU, the largest Seventh-day Adventist University worldwide, has an enrollment of approximately 6,000 students from 23 countries on six campuses across Jamaica.