A University of Warwick Professor has exchanged academia for an ambassadorial role when he became Guyana’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

David Dabydeen, who has been a professor at Warwick for some 26 years, made an address to President Hu Jintao on 1 December to mark a new connection between Guyana and China as there hasn’t been anyone in that role for the last 16 years.

Guyana was the first English-speaking Caribbean country to establish diplomatic relations with China, nearly 40 years ago, and their first President, from 1970-1980, was of Chinese descent. The Chinese population in Guyana dates back 200 years and it remains a valued and creative presence in the country.

David now lives in Beijing but remains part of the University of Warwick’s Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies and the Centre for Caribbean Studies. He is honoured to have the responsibility of this new role and presented a book to the President which he wrote whilst at the University. He said: “My book is presented as a token of Guyana’s great respect for Chinese culture and a desire to forge even closer relationships between our two peoples.”

For further information, contact Kate Cox in the Communications office on +44 (0)2476 574255/150483 or m: +44(0)7920 531221 or kate.cox@warwick.ac.uk.