MARYLAND, United States (CMC) — Jamaican-born Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, a former Maryland State Senator, has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Jamaica Association of Maryland.

At a gala celebrating Jamaica’s 60th year of Independence held in Baltimore, Nathan-Pulliam was recognised for 20 years of service in the Maryland House of Delegates and five years in the Maryland Senate.

Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1994, she was the first Jamaican-born and first Caribbean person to ascend to the Maryland General Assembly in its over 300-year history.

She was a Democratic member of the House of Delegates and represented District 10, Baltimore County, from January 1995 to January 2015. In 2014 she was elected to the Senate of Maryland.

Born in South Trelawny, Nathan-Pulliam, a nurse by profession, grew up in Kingston, where she attended Mico Teachers’ College (now The Mico University College). She emigrated to the United States where she distinguished herself in the field of health care before turning to representational politics in 1994.

Also recognised by the Jamaica Association of Maryland was Dr Basil Buchanan, who was presented with the prestigious Marcus Garvey Award for his more than 42 years of providing invaluable support to the Jamaican community in the Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) and the Jamaican Embassy.

Among his list of accomplishments is successfully working to get legislation passed for the establishment of a permanent office of caribbean affairs for the District of Columbia, a first in the nation.

Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks, in a message delivered by community relations officer at the Embassy of Jamaica Emile Wallace Weddell noted that, “Since lowering the red, white, and blue Union Jack and hoisting our esteemed black, gold, and green flag 60 years ago, Jamaica has experienced myriad successes in the spheres of diplomacy, arts, sports, academia, and entertainment.”