Tributes pour in as acclaimed Doncaster university professor dies in Jamaica

Dr David Barker, a leading geographer and author, was a professor at the University of the West Indies for more than 30 years, teaching hundreds of students.

His sister Linda Gould as well as former colleagues have paid tribute to Dr Barker, with one describing him as “a good human being” following his death at the age of 74.

Born in Doncaster in 1947, he attended Kirkby Avenue. school until the age of 11 when he moved to Percy Jackson Grammar School in Woodlands.

He then studied at Aberystwyth Univeristy in Wales, gaining his BSc and then his PhD at Bristol University.

In 1980, he accepted a position at the University of the West Indies’ Mona campus in Jamaica.

In 2005 he became professor of geography, became an emeritus professor in 2015 and als co-authored and co-edited eight books.

The professor, who retired in 2012, died on February 19.

Economist and former UWI lecturer Dr Michael Witter has hailed his former colleague as a “good human being”.

“I was privileged to know him. RIP, David, thanks for being you and all you taught me,” Witter said in a post on Facebook.

Professors Rupert Lewis and Donna Hope, the Deputy Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, also expressed condolences.

One of Dr Barker’s latest works was the 2016 book “Global Change and the Caribbean: Adaptation and Resilience” that he edited with Dr Thera Edwards, Dr Duncan McGregor and Dr Kevin Rhiney.

He was also co-founding editor of the Caribbean Geography journal in 1983 and was a past president of the Jamaican Geographical Society.

Sister Linda Gould said her brother had passed away suddenly in hospital in Jamaica earlier this month and despite living in the West Indies for more than 40 years, had never forgotten his Doncaster roots.

She said: “From the age of nine he started watching Doncaster Rovers – and he continued to support them, through good times and bad, all his life.

“The university have paid some lovely tributes to him.”

He is survived by wife Dianne, daughter Yolande and twin grandchildren Nathaniel and Naomi.