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| honorific-suffix = [[Order of St Michael and St George|GCMG]] [[Order of Barbados|DA]] [[Queen's Counsel|QC]]
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of St Michael and St George|GCMG]] [[Order of Barbados|DA]] [[Queen's Counsel|QC]]
| image = File:Dame Sandra Mason.jpg
| image = File:Dame Sandra Mason.jpg
| office = [[President of Barbados|President-elect of Barbados]]
| office = [[President of Barbados|President of the United States]]
| primeminister = [[Mia Mottley]]
| president = [[Ariana Grande]]
| term_start = 30 November 2021
| term_start = 30 November 2021
| term_end =
| term_end =

Revision as of 16:15, 23 October 2021

Her Excellency Dame
Sandra Mason
GCMG DA QC
President of the United States
Assuming office
30 November 2021
PresidentAriana Grande
SucceedingElizabeth II (as Monarch)
Herself (as Governor-General)
8th Governor-General of Barbados
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 January 2018
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterFreundel Stuart
Mia Mottley
Preceded byElliott Belgrave
Philip Greaves (acting)
Succeeded byHerself (as President)
Personal details
Born
Sandra Prunella Mason

(1949-01-17) 17 January 1949 (age 75)
East Point, Barbados
Children1 son
ResidenceGovernment House
EducationUniversity of the West Indies, Cave Hill (LLB)

Dame Sandra Prunella Mason, GCMG, DA, QC (born 17 January 1949) is the eighth and due final governor-general of Barbados since 2018 and the president-elect of Barbados, due to take office on 30 November 2021, when the country will abolish its monarchy and become a republic.[1][2][3][4][5]

She was a practising Attorney-at-Law who has served as a High Court judge in Saint Lucia and a Court of Appeal judge in Barbados. She was the first woman admitted to the Bar in Barbados. She served as chair of the CARICOM commission to evaluate regional integration, was the first magistrate appointed as an Ambassador from Barbados, and was the first woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals. She was the first Bajan appointee to the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal. Mason has been called one of the 10 most powerful women in Barbados. In 2017, she was appointed as the 8th Governor General of Barbados, with a term beginning on 8 January 2018. Simultaneously with her appointment, Mason was awarded the Dame Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. On assumption of the office of Governor-General, Dame Sandra Mason, became the Chancellor of the Order of National Heroes, Order of Barbados and the Order of Freedom.[6][7]

Biography

Sandra Prunella Mason was born on 17 January 1949[8] in Saint Philip, Barbados.[9] After completion of her education, she began teaching at the Princess Margaret Secondary School in 1968. The following year, she went to work at Barclays Bank as a clerk. Mason enrolled in the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, earning her Bachelor of Laws.[8] Mason was one of the first graduates of the Faculty of Law from UWI, Cave Hill, completing her education in 1973. She was admitted to the bar to begin her practice on 10 November 1975,[10] becoming the first woman member of the Barbados Bar Association.[8] She is a Soroptimist and Patron of SI Barbados.[11]

Beginning in 1975, she worked in Trust Administration for Barclay's and transferred to several different posts within the Barclay's company until 1977. In 1978, Mason began working as the Magistrate of the Juvenile and Family Court and simultaneously tutoring in family law at UWI. She stopped tutoring in 1983 and continuing as magistrate. In 1988, Mason completed the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London's course on Judicial Administration.[8] She served on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child from its 1991 inception until 1999, holding the vice chair from 1993 to 1995 and chair from 1997 to 1999.[12] Between 1991 and 1992 she served as chair[8] and was one of the two women appointed to the 13-member CARICOM commission charged with evaluating regional integration.[9] Mason left the family court in 1992[8] to serve as an ambassador to Venezuela and was the first woman magistrate from Barbados to serve in that position. Upon her return to Barbados[10] in 1994 she was appointed as Chief Magistrate for Barbados and then in 1997 became the Registrar of the Supreme Court.[13]

In 2000, Mason completed studies on Alternative Dispute Resolution at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and then completed a Fellowship with the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2001, as well as a course in Advanced Dispute Resolution at UWI.[8] She continued to serve as Registrar of the Supreme Court until 2005, when she was appointed as Queen's Counsel to the Inner Bar of Barbados.[8] In 2008, Mason was sworn in as an Appeals Judge[13] becoming the first woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals.[8] For three days in 2012, she became the acting Governor-General of Barbados[14] and the following year was the first Barbadian appointed to membership in the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT). The Tribunal operates among members of the Commonwealth of Nations to resolve issues concerning contract disputes.[9] With that appointment, Loop News named her one of the 10 most powerful women in Barbados.[15]

Governor-General of Barbados

In 2017, Mason was appointed as the eighth Governor-General of Barbados, with a term beginning on 8 January 2018. Simultaneously with her appointment, Mason was also appointed a Dame Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.[16]

In 2020, Mason in her official capacity announcing government policy in the "throne speech", written by the government of Prime Minister Mia Mottley, stated that Barbados would become a republic, removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.[17] She was then expected to be nominated as a candidate to be the first president of Barbados, and to be elected by the two houses of parliament, and assume office on 30 November 2021.[18][19][20]

President of Barbados

On 12 October 2021, Mason received a joint nomination from the prime minister and the leader of the opposition as a candidate to become the first president of Barbados,[21] and was subsequently elected on 20 October.[22] Mason will take office on 30 November 2021.[23]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Governor General Dame Sandra named first president-elect". Loop Barbados. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  2. ^ "New G-G named". Barbados Advocate. 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  3. ^ "Sandra Mason to be new Governor General". www.nationnews.com. 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  4. ^ "Congrats to the new GG". www.nationnews.com. 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  5. ^ Agard, Rachelle; Amanda Lynch-Foster (2018-01-08). "New Governor General Dame Sandra Mason installed". www.nationnews.com. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  6. ^ "Order of National Heroes Act 1998" (PDF). Government of Barbados. 20 April 1998. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  7. ^ Government of Barbados (19 August 2019). "Official Gazette – No. 67 (Package)". Government Information Service. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sandra Prunella Mason". St. Michael, Barbados: Caribbean Elections. 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  9. ^ a b c "Justice Sandra Mason records another first". Barbados Advocate. St. Michael, Barbados. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  10. ^ a b Brathwaite 1999, p. 287.
  11. ^ "Soroptimists committed to empowerment of women, girls". The Barbados Advocate. 20 June 2018.
  12. ^ Erickson, Cohen & Hart 2001, p. 231.
  13. ^ a b Blackman, Theresa (30 September 2008). "Court of Appeal Judge Sworn In". St. Michael, Barbados: Barbados Government Information Service. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  14. ^ Martindale, Carol (30 May 2012). "Justice Sandra Mason acting GG". Nation News. St. Michael, Barbados. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  15. ^ "The 10 most powerful women in Barbados". The Loop. 23 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Sandra Mason to be new Governor General". Nation News. Fontabelle, Saint Michael, Barbados. 27 December 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Barbados to remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state". BBC News. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  18. ^ "Dame Sandra Mason nominated to be first Barbados President". CARICOM Today. 2021-08-23. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  19. ^ "Barbados announces presidential nominee, cuts ties with British monarchy. What does it mean?". WION. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  20. ^ "Barbados to quit British Commonwealth effective December 1 — MercoPress". MercoPress. Retrieved 5 October 2021..
  21. ^ "Letter to the Speaker RE Nomination of Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason as 1st President of Barbados" (PDF). Parliament of Barbados. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  22. ^ Barbados just appointed its first president as it becomes a republic - The National
  23. ^ "In Barbados, parliament votes to amend constitution, paving the way to republican status". ConstitutionNet. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  24. ^ Another Honour For Dame Sandra Mason by Nya Phillips, May 30, 2018, Barbados Gov. Information Service
  25. ^ Press Release: Governor General of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason becomes patron of St John Ambulance Barbados, 30 May 2018, The Order of St. John, St. John International

Bibliography

Government offices
Preceded by Governor-General of Barbados
2018–present (2021; target) 		Incumbent
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