NCU Honours Businessman Dennis Morgan
Dennis Morgan is one of the most successful and notable businessmen in Montego Bay, and a major contributor to the area’s industry. Although born in the parish of Manchester in June 1944, Morgan’s influence has spread beyond Manchester into multiple pockets of Jamaica and the region.
This businessman and developer is a patriotic nation builder with 53 years of sterling contribution to the tourism industry, human development and commerce.
Sixty-one years after walking through the hallowed halls of the then West Indies Training College, Morgan was recently conferred with an honorary doctorate, at the Northern Caribbean University’s 100th Commencement Ceremony, on Sunday, August 13, 2023. “I started attending NCU in 1962, and it is very strange. It was under very trying circumstances. At the time I was torn between a university education or at that time a college education and joining my father in his trucking business,” Morgan said.
He indicated that he had just finished high school and his father thought it was appropriate to have him join him as a trucker. I resisted the temptation. I told him, I preferred to continue my education. He wasn’t pleased. He said, well, I think you are lazy. You don’t want to join me. You don’t want to work, you don’t want to drive truck,” Morgan related.
Morgan was adamant that he did not want to be a trucker and felt compelled to explore other options. “I was recommended to West Indies Training College by a medical practitioner whom I had a very good rapport with. After visiting her office, I explained to her what was happening to me, and she said she had the ideal place for me to go, where I could work and get an education. I welcomed the thought and within a couple of days, she had forms to be completed,” Morgan related.
“I entered the campus while students were leaving to go on holiday in June 1962,” he added.
Morgan attended the then West Indies College, now NCU, where he paid for his education by working full-time in the college’s printery, the cafeteria construction project, and in the development of the college’s science laboratory. He was a student of Business Administration.
After graduating, he worked at the Port Maria Academy as a science teacher for two years, then went on to work at Casa Maria Hotel as night auditor. While there he got the idea of operating his own business and formed his first car rental business in 1969.
Morgan is the owner of the Sea Garden Beach Resorts in Montego Bay and is the founder and president of Sun Holiday Travel & Tours Limited, one of the oldest ground transportation companies in the tourism industry.
“You have to understand what is ahead of you to be sure you understand the direction in which your country is going. You have to be sure you understand the responsibility as a true Jamaican as to what is to be done not just for yourself and for your family but for helping others who need support,” Morgan said.
He indicated that he attended Northern Caribbean University empty and then left followed with enough knowledge and practical experience that would last him a lifetime. “I took the opportunity to work in just about every industry at the college. While I was there these experiences prepared for an extraordinarily beautiful journey over the years. I have never forgotten to credit God in the process,” Morgan added.