Phyllis Claire Macpherson-Russell
OD,
OJ (18 November 1923
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
- 19 April 2008) was a Jamaican politician for the
People's National Party (PNP). She was rapporteur for the
World Conference on Women, 1975.
Biography
Phyllis Macpherson-Russell studied mathematics at the
University of London, between 1945 and 1948. Already during her studies, she was involved in the interests of the Caribbean and was a representative at conferences of the
World Federation of Democratic Youth in London. After receiving an Issa Scholarship, she received a Grace Hoadley Dodge Scholarship, which helped her earn a postgraduate degree from
Columbia University. She graduated in 1961, with a doctorate in pedagogy. After returning to Jamaica, she became a lecturer at the Faculty of Extracurricular Education, now the School of Continuing Education, at the
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...
(UWI).
In August 1978, she was appointed Prime Minister of Education by
Michael Manley in his government, making her the second Jamaican woman to serve as a minister after
Rose Leon
Rose Agatha Leon (20 October 1911 – 16 August 1999) was a Jamaican businesswoman and politician. In August 1999, she was murdered in her home.
Biography
Leon was born to a pharmacist, Benjamin Joseph Huie, and Adella née Murray Hui on 20 Oc ...
. The Department of Education led them until the PNP's defeat against the
Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) in the general election and the end of Manley's term on 1 November 1980.
Subsequently, she resumed teaching and devoted herself in particular to the expansion of mathematical education in Jamaica.
She has received multiple awards for her services and, after the
Order of Distinction (1991) in 1993, received the Pelican Award from the Graduate Association for her basic work in the field of human resource development. On April 12, 1999, she was awarded an honorary doctorate (Sc.D.) by Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). She was awarded the
Order of Jamaica
The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system.
Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...
in 2003 .
Family
She is the sister of
Ripton MacPherson.
See also
*
List of education ministers of Jamaica
The following is a list of education ministers of Jamaica since adult suffrage (1944).
# Jehoida McPherson (1945–1949)
# Joseph Malcolm (1950–1951)
# L. L. Simmonds (1951–1953)
# Edwin Allen (1953–1955)
# Ivan Lloyd (1955–1957)
# F ...
*
Women in the House of Representatives of Jamaica
Jamaica is the first English-speaking country in the Caribbean to achieve universal adult suffrage and grant women the right to be elected to Parliament. Between 1944 and 2020, a total of 47 women have been elected as members of the House of Repr ...
References
1923 births
2008 deaths
Government ministers of Jamaica
Women government ministers of Jamaica
Education ministers of Jamaica
Politicians from Kingston, Jamaica
Jamaican expatriates in the United Kingdom
20th-century Jamaican women politicians
20th-century Jamaican politicians
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