CAS History

The idea of establishing a Caribbean Academy of Sciences (CAS) was informally proposed at the 21st General Assembly Meeting of the International Council of Scientific Unions [ICSU] in Bern, Switzerland 14-19 September 1986. Among the ICSU members supporting the suggestion were: Nobel Laureate Sir John Kendrew - President of ICSU; Professor MGK Menon - President-elect of ICSU; Professor Raimundo Villegas - later Chancellor of the Latin American Academy of Sciences; The Swiss Academy of Science; the Third World Academy of Science; the International Foundation for Science; the US National Academy of Science; the Royal Swedish Academy; the African Academy of Sciences; the Israel Academy of Science and the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology. Hollis Charles, the Caribbean member on the ICSU Committee for S&T in Developing Countries [COSTED] was mandated to raise the idea within the S&T community in the Caribbean and to support efforts to found a Caribbean Academy. At that time Hollis was the Director of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute [CARIRI] and he assigned CARIRI Dep. Director - Dr. Desmond Ali, the task of promoting the Academy. COSTED Caribbean provided financial support for the activities leading to the formation of the Academy, including the inaugural seminar.

The next step was taken by the Physics Department of The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago and subsequently by the Natural Sciences Faculty Board.  They endorsed the idea and a small group of senior faculty members was asked to form a subcommittee to address all matters associated with the establishment of an Academy of Sciences for the Caribbean Region. It soon became apparent to the subcommittee that because of the relatively small size of the region and in particular the need to have a critical mass of scientists for the Academy to be an effective regional force for science, it was necessary to include not only Natural Sciences, but also the Agricultural Sciences which have an excellent track record for scientific research in the region, the Engineering Sciences which have and continue to play an important role in the development of an industrial base in the society and the Medical Sciences which have an excellent record of scholarship and the development of medical institutions in the region. At a later stage, after much and sometimes painful debate, the Social Sciences were included. It was in addition, decided that the Academy would not restrict itself to reside within the walls of The University of the West Indies, but should embrace scientists working outside the university environment. It was also agreed that appropriate resources of the Trinidad and Tobago Science Association (TTSA) which was established in 1983, should be utilized.