In Jamaica, NCU elects US-based dental surgeon as president

June 13, 2016 | Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica | Nigel Coke/IAD

Dr. Lincoln Edwards was voted in on June 12, 2016, as the new president of the Adventist-owned Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, Jamaica.

Pharmacologist and Dental Surgeon, Dr. Lincoln Edwards, is the new president-elect of Northern Caribbean University (NCU). Dr. Edward was elected yesterday, during a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Seventh-day Adventist-owned institution at the church’s headquarters in Mandeville, Jamaica.

Dr. Edwards, who is a native of Jamaica and graduate of the University of the West Indies and Loma Linda University has served as an assistant professor in the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at Loma Linda University, and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, School of Dentistry in Houston. He will replace Dr. Trevor Gardner who is retiring at the end of August 2016.

“I am humbled and honored to be chosen,” said Dr. Edwards. “I am excited to return to Jamaica and to serve in this capacity at NCU, which stands on the threshold of an exciting new era.”

NCU has become one of the nation’s leading institutions of higher learning, said Dr. Edwards “with a bold vision to be the premiere institution from which students receive Christ-centered instructions and graduate to make evidence-based decision and impact the world in positive ways of their choosing.”

He vowed to do his part in helping to find solutions to the problems of society through the institution.

Dr. Edwards left Jamaica in 1993 as a Lecturer in Chemistry and Mathematics at NCU to pursue a doctoral degree in Pharmacology at Loma Linda University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry (special), and also a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. He is an experienced lay preacher and has served in various capacities within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

He is an accomplished researcher in the area of diabetes and hypertension and has obtained two National Institutes of Health grants. He currently serves on three American Dental Association Test Construction Committees and is Secretary of the American Dental Education Association section on Oral Diagnosis.

“I am pleased with the fact that after several months of searching for a potential candidate to serve as the next president of NCU, the Board of Governors finally endorsed the candidacy of Dr Edwards,” said Pastor Everett Brown, Chairman of the Board of Governors.

“He comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and a vast experience of serving in the Seventh-day Adventist system. He is mission-driven, goal oriented and has a keen interest in the development of people. We anticipate a successful tenor for him when he officially takes up office,” said Brown.

Dr. Edwards enjoys taking dental students on mission trips to Jamaica and helped hundreds of individuals to access free dental services in the parishes of Kingston, St. Catherine, Clarendon and Manchester over the past five years.

Edwards is married to Sandra Taylor, and they have three children.