CELEBRATED United States-born opera singer Jessye Norman has been named the Bob Marley Awardee 2014 by the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI).

The award was presented at the AFUWI awards gala at the Pierre Hotel, New York.

One of the world’s most celebrated performing artists, Norman has won acclaim for a wide range of leading roles with the world’s premier opera companies in solo recitals and concerts of her cherished classical repertoire, as well as her latest artistic expansion with her jazz ensemble and the extensive programming of music from the American Musical Theatre, entitled ‘American Masters’.

She is the recipient of many awards and accolades including more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees from colleges, universities and conservatories around the world, five Grammy awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the National Medal of Arts received at the White House from President Obama in 2010. She is also a Kennedy Centre honours recipient.

Other AFUWI 2014 awardees included vice chancellors achievement awardees Nick Charles, director of communications for local initiatives support corporation, New York City, and its emergency relief fund; Elinor Tatum, publisher and editor in chief of the New York Amsterdam News and Dr Dwight Williams, DDS, MPH, a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon who has provided state-of-the-art treatment and services for nearly 15 years to a predominantly Caribbean community through his Bronx-based practice, Optimum Dental Care LLC.

AFUWI 2014 Caribbean Luminary Awards were presented to Gail Brathwaite, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Bankwell Financial Group and Bankwell Bank in Connecticut, USA; Michelle Elie, Haitian-American founder of PRIM a handcrafted, limited edition jewellery and handbag line which also serves as a creative platform for showcasing the evolution of art, music and food; and Dr Velma Scantlebury, MD, FACS, associate director, division of transplantation at Christiana Care Transplant Centre.

In 2013/2014, the AFUWI offered 56 scholarships to students across the four campuses of the UWI, continuing its tradition of facilitating donations and scholarships to students and faculty of the UWI from individuals and corporations in the USA.

Scholarships were awarded to students from across the Caribbean to attend the Cave Hill campus, Barbados; Mona, Jamaica; St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Open Campus.

UWI Open Campus is primarily a virtual campus through which the traditional campuses of the University of the West Indies deliver their online programmes.

Formally launched in Antigua & Barbuda in June 2008, the UWI Open Campus offers programmes in multi-mode methodologies, including online and face-to-face modalities through 42 site locations, serving 16 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean.