English professor drops in on Bermuda alumni

The head of an English university which has produced more than 100 Bermudian graduates this week made a flying visit to Bermuda.

Professor Terence Kealey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, Britain’s only private university, said he was en route to an academic conference in the Galapagos Islands and decided to stop off in Bermuda and the Bahamas, which also boasts a number of Buckingham graduates.

He said: “It seemed ridiculous to fly over Bermuda and not stop in to see our alumni.”

Prof. Kealey, who has headed the university for 12 years qualified as a doctor of medicine at the prestigious Bart’s Hospital in London.

He added a Ph.D. in science and worked at both Oxford and Cambridge universities as a research biochemist before taking up his current post.

Prof. Kealey added that a number of Buckingham graduates held senior positions on the island, especially in the legal field.

These include Supreme Court judge Charles-Etta Simmons, Magistrates Tyrone Chin and Nicole Stoneham, barrister and PLP Senator Marc Daniels and former Cabinet Secretary Leo Mills.

Prof. Kealey said the university was not only private, but followed a non-traditional academic year, which meant students could complete an undergraduate degree in two years compared to the three-year norm. He added: “I think that really appealed to communities such as Bermuda because a lot of our students are mature and don’t have time to waste.”

Mr Mills, who started his law degree aged in his 30s, said: “The major things that attracted me was the university was particularly welcoming to mature students and gave you credit for work experience. It was arguably two of the most enjoyable years of my life – I really enjoyed my life there and my work.”

Prof. Kealey said that Bermuda, although small and without natural resources, had one of the highest per capita incomes in the world  because of “human capital”.

He added: “Since Buckingham has played a role in educating a disproportionate number of Bermudians, we are very proud of that. The University of Buckingham is like Bermuda – we are small with only 2,000 students but like Bermuda we punch above our weight.”

Prof. Kealey said that the university also had one of the best staff-to-student ratios in Britain and had also stuck to smaller tutorial groups, rather than relying on large numbers of students attending lectures.

Prof. Kealey added: “It’s pretty attractive to people who are serious about education and we try to make it as satisfying as possible.”

Prof. Kealey on Monday attended a dinner for Bermuda graduates of the university in Hamilton.n