The life of Carlton Alexander (1916-89)
SELWYN CARLTON Alexander was born in Montego Bay on May 9, 1916, to Selwyn Augustus and Rosina Alexander. He was the first of nine children. He attended Orange Hill Preparatory School in Montego Bay, St John’s College in Kingston, and Jamaica College. Selwyn Alexander, at age 16, started working with Grace, Kennedy and Co in 1933 as a stock clerk and rose to the position of chairman of the company. Alexander had played a leading role in the fields of commerce, industry and export. He was one of the masterminds behind the coordination of various segments of the business sector in a way that enables that sector to now make a more positive contribution to national development. Dr the Hon Carlton Alexander is said to be among the few Jamaicans whose work has been instrumental in achieving aspects of sustainable development. Selwyn Alexander was involved in many areas of the business sector. He was the: board member of several companies and chairman and chief executive of Grace, Kennedy and Company Ltd, president and life member of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce,
I chairman Jamaica National
Export Corporation,
I chairman of the Jamaica National Investment Promotion Ltd,
I chairman, Kingston Wharves
Ltd,
I chairman, Kingston
Terminal Operators Ltd,
I chairman, Diary Industries
Jamaica Ltd,
I director, Bata Shoe
Company, I director, Coconut Control Authority,
I director, Jamaica Export Credit Insurance Company, I director, Caribbean Atlantic, Life Insurance Company Limited, I director of Pilkington Glass Jamaica Ltd,
I director of Domestic Sales Ltd, I chairman of the Jamaica College School Board, etc. He was the recipient of a humanitarian award at the American Friends of Jamaica’s seventh annual Jamaica Charity Ball on November 23, 1988. The award was received by the Hon Keith Johnson as Alexander was ill. He also received the Order of Jamaica and was Commander of the Order of Distinction.
Selwyn Carlton Alexander died at age 73 on May 23, 1989. The GraceKennedy Foundation was established in his memory with a $4.5million fund to help education in Jamaica. The beneficiaries of the fund are institutions with which Alexander was affiliated. He is acknowledged as a rare patriot to Jamaica.