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Dennis Irvine Lecture on 9th April 2010
Professor Asha Kanwar speaks on the theme "ICTs in Higher Education: Who Stands to Gain?" on 9th April 2010 on the occasion of Dennis Irvine Lecture at the University of Guyana, Guyana.

The University of Guyana was established in April 1963. Dr. Dennis Irvine served as Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana from 1969 to 1982. In January 1976, he spearheaded the launch of the Department of Extramural Studies, the forerunner of the present Institute of Distance and Continuing Education. Dr. Irvine was convinced that community outreach was critical to the role of a university in a developing country, and that the new Department of Extramural Studies provided the mechanism for taking the University to the people thus enabling many more Guyanese to benefit from higher education.

His interest in and support of the IDCE continued even after he retired from the Office of Vice Chancellor in 1982. As Director of Caribbean Programmes and Materials Acquisition and Development at the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), he played an active role in the decision by COL to support the Institute’s distance education thrust in 1992 through the provision of equipment, consultancies and staff training.

The Dennis Irvine Lecture Series was inaugurated during the 25th Anniversary of the University of Guyana in 2001 to commemorate Dr. Irvine’s immense contributions in extending the outreach of the University beyond its walls to the underprivileged and marginalized and assisting them in becoming useful and productive citizens.

The Dennis Irvine Lecture is held bi-annually and has become an important event in the University’s Calendar of Events.

The Inaugural Lecture was delivered in 2001 by Professor Gajraj Dhanaranjan, the then President and Chief Executive Officer of COL, on the theme ‘Combating Poverty through Adult Education’. The second was on “The Learning Society” by Mr. Deryck Bernard, former Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Guyana, and the third Lecture in that series was given by Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary General, CARICOM, under the theme “Adult Education and the New Technologies”.

The Second Series was held in 2004, and Professor Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Campus Principal and Pro Vice Chancellor of the St Augustine Campus, UWI addressed the audience on “A  Perspective on University-Community Relations in the Knowledge Era of Globalization”.

The Third Series took place in 2007 with Sir John Daniel, President and CEO of COL speaking on “How can Learning Contribute to Development” on 27 February 2007. Dr. Myrna Joseph, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat delivered the second Lecture in the series on “The Role of the Caribbean Universities Project for Integrated Distance Education” (CUPIDE).