Courtney Blackman

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Courtney Blackman
KA
1st Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados
In office
1972–1987
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byKurleigh King
Personal details
Born
Courtney Newlands McLaurin Blackman

(1933-03-06)6 March 1933
Barbados, British Windward Islands
Died16 March 2021(2021-03-16) (aged 88)
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of the West Indies BA (hons)
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico MBA
Columbia University PhD
ProfessionEconomist, diplomat

Sir Courtney Newlands McLaurin Blackman, KA (6 March 1933 – 16 March 2021) was a Barbadian economist, international business consultant, and diplomat. He served as the first Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados from 1972 to 1987. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest central bank governor in the world.

Early life[edit]

Blackman was born on 6 March 1933.[1] Upon completing his studies at Harrison College in 1952, he won a Barbados Exhibition. This financial award allowed him to study Modern History at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Mona, Jamaica, where he earned a BA (hons) in 1956. After graduating, Blackman joined Alcan Jamaica Ltd. as a trainee, eventually becoming a personnel manager. In 1958, he decided to become a teacher; over the next five years, he worked at Kingston College (Jamaica), Sekondi College in Ghana, and his former school Harrison College.[2]

In 1963, Blackman entered the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, where he would graduate with a Master of Business Administration.[2] He received a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University (New York City) in 1969;[3] he had majored in Money and Banking and minored in International Business. He worked on Wall Street as an Economist from 1968 to 1971 at the now-defunct Irving Trust Company, going on to become Associate Professor of Management at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York.[4]

Career[edit]

Blackman served as Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados from June 1972 to March 1987, the longest-serving governor as of 2021. He was offered the position in a 5AM phone call from then-Prime Minister Errol Barrow; Blackman immediately accepted, but later joked that he "would never again accept a job offer while half asleep".[5] He became the youngest central bank governor in the world at the time, at the age of 39 years old. He was responsible for growing the bank's organisation from its initial team of five people, as well as setting monetary policy.[6][7]

As governor, Blackman supervised the 1973 introduction of the Barbadian dollar; although it was initially tied to the pound sterling, Blackman changed the currency to a fixed exchange rate tied to the US dollar in 1975. This rate of BDS$2 = US$1 was still in effect at the time of his death; PM Mia Mottley and later central bank governor Cleviston Haynes credited it with providing economic stability.[8] Blackman also organized the construction of the central bank plaza, which is now the Tom Adams Financial Centre in Bridgetown.[6]

After retiring from the Central Bank in 1987, Blackman became a business consultant to other governments and international institutions. From 1995 to 2000, he served as Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative for Barbados to the Organization of American States.[4] He later became an Honorary Distinguished Fellow at the UWI's Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES).[9]

Personal life[edit]

Blackman and his wife Gloria had three sons:[5] Martin is a tennis player and coach,[10] while Chris and Keith are television news producers.[11][12]

Blackman was known for correcting erroneous statements or reports made about Barbados in the international community.[13][14]

Death[edit]

Blackman died on 16 March 2021 at the age of 88[5] in Orlando, Florida, U.S.[1] He was buried at St. David's Anglican Church in Christ Church, Barbados.[15]

Honours[edit]

Blackman received an honorary degree from Hofstra University in 1982,[16] and an honorary LLD from the University of the West Indies in 2007.[17]

Blackman was awarded the Gold Crown of Merit in 1982. In 1998, he received the highest honour in Barbados: he was made a Knight of St. Andrew (KA) of the Order of Barbados.[13]

In 2017, the Central Bank of Barbados renamed its Grand Salle building as the Courtney Blackman Grand Salle.[18][19]

Partial bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Central Banking in a Dependent Economy: The Jamaican Experience, 1961-1967 (1969, Ph.D. thesis) [3]
  • The Practice of Persuasion: Selected Speeches (1982) [20]
  • Central Banking in Theory and Practice: A Small State Perspective (1998) [21]
  • The Practice of Economic Management: A Caribbean Perspective (2006) [22][23]

Articles[edit]

  • "An Eclectic Approach to the Problem of Black Economic Development" (1971) [24]
  • "The Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves in Small Developing Countries" (1981) [25]
  • "New Directions for Central Banking in the Caribbean" (1989) [26]
  • "Tourism and Other Services in the Anglophone Caribbean" (1989) [27]
  • "An Analytical Framework for the Study of Caribbean Public Enterprise" (1992) [28]
  • "Financial Accounting for Central Banks - with Special Reference to CARICOM" (1995) [29]
  • "Finance, Investment and Economic Development: Towards an Investment-Friendly Financial Environment" (2006) [30]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Courtney Blackman Obituary - Orlando, FL". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Codrington, Harold (2019). Both sides of the coin : the story of the Central Bank of Barbados, 1972-2017. Barbados: Central Bank of Barbados. ISBN 978-976-95741-9-9. OCLC 1134849274.
  3. ^ a b Blackman, Courtney Newlands McLaurin (1969). Central banking in a dependent economy: the Jamaican experience, 1961-1967 (Thesis). New York: Columbia University.
  4. ^ a b "Past Governors". www.centralbank.org.bb. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Tribute to Courtney Newlands Blackman". Central Bank of Barbados. 16 March 2021. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b Carter, Gercine (16 December 2017). "After you, Sir". www.nationnews.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  7. ^ Best, Tony (24 March 2021). "Sir Courtney Blackman's legacy, Death of an Icon". New York Carib News. Archived from the original on 5 April 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Remembering Sir Courtney". Central Bank of Barbados. 17 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Sir Courtney Expands His Academic Legacy" (PDF). Chill News (3). University of the West Indies Cave Hill: 7. 2006.
  10. ^ "Martin Blackman's GS Performance Timeline & Stats". www.db4tennis.com. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Keith Blackman". CommCore Consulting Group. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Blackman steps down at NBC10". The Philadelphia Tribune. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  13. ^ a b Mottley, Mia (16 March 2021). "PM's statement on the passing of Sir Courtney Blackman". Barbados Today. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  14. ^ Best, Tony (10 February 2006). "Whites, Blacks live in harmony". www.nationnews.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  15. ^ Sir Courtney Newlands Blackman, KA, Downes & Wilson Funeral Home, Barbados
  16. ^ "About: Honorary Degrees". Hofstra University. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  17. ^ "12 Honoured at UWI Graduation Ceremonies". sta.uwi.edu. 9 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  18. ^ Smith, Christina (16 December 2017). "Grand Salle takes on new name". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  19. ^ Staff writer (22 May 2017). "Sir Courtney's grand honour". Nation Newspaper. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  20. ^ "The Practice of persuasion : selected speeches by Courtney N. Blackman". Central Bank of Barbados. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  21. ^ Cueva, Simon; Itam, Samuel (December 2000). "Review of "Central Banking in Theory and Practice: A Small State Perspective"". Finance & Development. 37 (4). ISSN 0015-1947.
  22. ^ Blackman, Courtney (2006). The practice of economic management : a Caribbean perspective. Kingston, Jamaica. ISBN 978-976-637-759-5. OCLC 859155872.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ Fontaine, Thomas (2007). "Practical Lessons: A Review of "The Practice of Economic Management"". Harvard International Review. 28 (4): 78–79 – via thedominican.net.
  24. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (March 1971). "An Eclectic Approach to the Problem of Black Economic Development". The Review of Black Political Economy. 2 (1): 3–27. doi:10.1007/BF03040581. ISSN 0034-6446. S2CID 154724447.
  25. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (1981). "The Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves in Small Developing Countries". Social and Economic Studies. 30 (4): 156–171. ISSN 0037-7651. JSTOR 27861968.
  26. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (1989). "New Directions for Central Banking in the Caribbean". Social and Economic Studies. 38 (4): 219–240. ISSN 0037-7651. JSTOR 27864911.
  27. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (March 1990). "Tourism and Other Services in the Anglophone Caribbean". Commission for the Study of International Migration and Cooperative Economic Development. 26. hdl:2027/txu.059173000688557 – via HathiTrust.
  28. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (1992). "An Analytical Framework for the Study of Caribbean Public Enterprise". Social and Economic Studies. 41 (4): 77–93. ISSN 0037-7651. JSTOR 27865116.
  29. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (1995). "Financial Accounting for Central Banks - with Special Reference to CARICOM". In Ramsaran, Ramesh (ed.). The Experience of Central Banking : with special reference to the Caribbean (PDF). Mona, Jamaica: Regional Programme of Monetary Studies. pp. 101–114. ISBN 976-40-0053-3. OCLC 33953156.
  30. ^ Blackman, Courtney N. (2006). "Finance, Investment and Economic Development: Towards an Investment-Friendly Financial Environment". In Birchwood, Anthony; Seerattan, Dave (eds.). Finance and Real Development in the Caribbean. Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Centre for Monetary Studies. pp. 113–124. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.663.8626. LCCN 2008375790. OCLC 174278178.
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