Frederick "Fred" Rudolph Wills (18 September 1928 – 1992) was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana from 1975 to 1978. He was a renowned statesman, lawyer, cricket expert and intellectual. Wills is cited for his intellectual and academic genius by oral stories from his fellow-Guyanese and globally.

Education and career in England

Fred Wills studied law at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, where he was awarded the Jelf Medal for his outstanding academic success as a law graduate. He was also named to

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

, the highest level of judges in England. However, he never practiced as a judge in England, instead returning to

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Return to Guyana

When he returned to Guyana he became famous for being one of the top legal minds in Guyana, whilst also contributing to developing the law and constitution in Guyana. When the Guyanese president

Forbes Burnham Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana, Prime Minister from 1964 ...

came into power he appointed Wills as Justice Minister and later Foreign Affairs Minister. In that capacity Wills briefly presided over the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...

and twice addressed the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

, once on independence for

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

and once on September 27, 1976, to promote a

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

debt moratorium.

Move to the United States

Wills's government service ended in 1978 and he moved to the United States. There he became a professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

and an associate of

Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspira ...

. He was a founding board member of the

Schiller Institute The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...

in 1984.

Personal life

Fred Wills was married to Doris Harper-Wills whom he divorced and later remarried. He served as club captain for the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in Georgetown, Guyana, and was a popular radio announcer at cricket games and for the programme 'Fred Wills on Sport' transmitted in the Caribbean region .In the U.S. Guyanese cricket fans have proposed renaming the DCC Pavilion as Fred Wills Pavilion. He died in

in 1992.

References

External links

Schiller Institute article: "Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1976: When a New Just Monetary System Was On The Agenda". The story of Fred Wills's second U.N. speech.Caribbean Cricket: mention of Wills's cricket skill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Frederick 1928 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Guyanese lawyers LaRouche movement Foreign ministers of Guyana Government ministers of Guyana Alumni of King's College London Guyanese emigrants to the United States