The University of the West Indies community is mourning the loss of one of its first students, Dame Dr Ruby Lake Richards who died earlier this week at age 101.
Dame Ruby was one of two remaining members of the first cohort of 33 medical students who attended The UWI (then University College of the West Indies).
She was also the first female UWI graduate from Antigua and Barbuda and was honoured with an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from The UWI Five Islands Campus.
Dame Ruby was regarded as one of Antigua and Barbuda’s outstanding medical professionals.
She started her journey in 1948, pursuing medicine at the University College of the West Indies. Of that inaugural class, she was one of ten women enrolled.
She earned her medical degree in 1954 and then moved on to an internship at the Holberton Hospital in St John’s, Antigua. Next, she alternated between the Carty’s Hill Clinic in Glanvilles, where she worked as a parish doctor, and her private practice, which she opened in the city.
In 1967, she migrated to Canada with her husband Sir Novelle Hamilton Richards, where she pursued her postgraduate study and completed her specialisation in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at McGill University. In 1977, she received her Fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
She also worked at the Reddy Memorial Hospital and the Montreal Children’s Hospital in Canada before completing her residency in child and adolescent psychiatry at McGill University.
At McGill, she was employed as a lecturer assigned to the Department of Psychiatry, which she combined, with her role as a psychiatrist at the Douglas Mental Health University for nearly 40 years. She retired in 2015 at the age of 93.
In 2021, at a special convocation hosted by The UWI Five Islands Campus, she was conferred an honorary degree, the first Honorary Doctorate given by the Campus.
Later that year, she was also honoured by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda with the ‘Dame Grand Cross of The Most Distinguished Order of the Nation (DGCN)’ for her outstanding contribution in the field of medicine.
Extending his sympathy, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said, “This is a deep loss for our community. Dame Ruby was a cherished icon who lived a life of service here in the Caribbean and internationally, an attribute of a true UWI graduate. The University and region are at a loss from her passing. Our only solace is that we were able to bestow her flowers and celebrate her while she was alive.”
