Saint Lucians Urged to Take Inspiration From Nobel Laureates and Aim for Excellence

Nobel Laureate Week serves as a reminder of the potential within Saint Lucians waiting to be unlocked with the right approach, declared Director of Finance Imran Williams during the annual Nobel Laureate wreath-laying ceremony on Friday.

Addressing a gathering at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College that included Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, Governor General Cyril Charles, Education Minister Shawn Edwards, and family members of Nobel Laureates Sir William Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott, Williams pointed to the enduring relevance of the laureates’ achievements in inspiring the next generation of Saint Lucians.

“Nobel Laureate Week is not just a celebration of individual achievements but a powerful reminder of what can be accomplished when brilliance, perseverance, and a deep love for one’s roots converge,” Williams stated. 

“It is a reminder that excellence is within reach, but it requires a commitment to learning or unlearning, to growing and to challenging ourselves.”

Reflecting on the legacies of Lewis and Walcott, Williams described them as symbols of brilliance and perseverance. He hailed Sir Arthur Lewis as an “architect of economic thought,” guided by his belief that “good economics begins with a general concern for people”. Sir Derek Walcott, he said, was “the voice of the Caribbean identity”—one of the 20th century’s most influential literary figures and a fervent advocate for Caribbean culture.

“Their work is also deeply personal, rooted in their own experience growing up in Saint Lucia,” Williams noted.

Sharing personal anecdotes, Williams recalled his school days when some speculated that the successes of the two Nobel Laureates were merely “flashes in the pan, never to be repeated”. To counter this, he pointed to the accomplishments of Olympian Julien Alfred, who made history at the 2024 Olympics; and Dr Winston Parris, after whom the former Victoria Hospital has been renamed, who was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Medicine in the mid-1990s.

Williams reflected: “I wonder how many times JuJu (Alfred) might have doubted herself along the way, and if she ever got inspiration and motivation to keep fighting from our laureates – ‘If Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott can conquer the world, so can I’.”

Encouraging others to aim for excellence, Williams concluded, “As we celebrate the lives and contribution of Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott, let us also celebrate the potential within all of us to make a difference, to leave our mark on the world and to continue the legacy of excellence that is so brilliantly exemplified.”