Stephen Vasciannie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Jamaican Ambassador to the United States | |
| In office 17 July 2012 – 17 July 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Portia Simpson-Miller |
| Preceded by | Audrey Marks |
| Succeeded by | Ralph Thomas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stephen Charles Vasciannie (1960-01-17)17 January 1960 (age 66) Kingston,Saint Andrew, Jamaica |
| Spouse | Lisa |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Lawyer, diplomat, academic |
Stephen Charles VasciannieCD (born 17 January 1960) is aJamaican law professor. Formerly Deputy Solicitor-General and principal of theNorman Manley Law School, Vasciannie served as Jamaica's Ambassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary to theUnited States until he stepped down to return to academic life.
Vasciannie was one of the founding members of theNational Democratic Movement (NDM) along with former Prime Minister of JamaicaBruce Golding. He served as Deputy Solicitor-General until 2007. The Public Services Commission recommended that year that he be appointed Solicitor-General, however, Golding, whose relationship with Vasciannie had deteriorated since Golding's departure from the NDM, did not accept Vasciannie's nomination; instead, Golding fired all the members of the commission, and the new commission members appointed choseDouglas Leys to assume the office of Solicitor-General instead.[1][2] Preceding the People's National Party victory in the 2012 general election Vasciannie was named Jamaica's ambassador to the United States in June 2012, and succeeded Jamaican businesswomanAudrey Marks, who was appointed under the Golding administration.[3]
In 2006, when Dehring Bunting and Golding (DB&G) was purchased by theBank of Nova Scotia, the new owners appointed him DB&G's newchairman of the board.[4] That year he was also elected to his first term as a member of the United NationsInternational Law Commission (UNILC).[5] He was appointed principal of theNorman Manley Law School in July 2008 after the death ofKeith Sobion.[6] In 2010,Anglican Diocese of Jamaica BishopAlfred Reid wrote to him to ask him to serve as chairman of the board of governors of Kingston College, which he accepted, succeedingCrafton Miller.[1] He was elected to a second term on the UNILC in November 2011. He is also a professor of law at theUniversity of the West Indies.[5]
Vasciannie did his secondary education atKingston College (Jamaica), where he washead boy.[1] He went on to theUniversity of the West Indies, where he earned a B.Sc. in economics with first class honours, and was the recipient of the UWI Open Scholarship in 1978. He received aRhodes Scholarship to study at theUniversity of Oxford in 1981; he would later earn a B.A. injurisprudence from Oxford, an LL.M. ininternational law fromGonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in international law from Oxford.[3]