Arthur Lewis was born in Saint Lucia. At the age of 18, he earned the government scholarship to attend the London School of Economics (LSE), becoming the first Black individual to gain acceptance there. After Lewis graduated in 1937 with first-class honors, LSE gave him a scholarship to study for a Ph.D. in industrial economics. In 1959, Lewis returned to the Caribbean region when appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1962 and in 1963, he was knighted by the British government for his achievements and for his contributions to economics. That year, he was also appointed Professor of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University – the first Black instructor to be given a full professorship. Lewis received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979, sharing it with Theodore Schultz, “for their pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries”. The Sir W. Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture recognizes an economist who has produced seminal research on economic development or made a significant contribution to economic development through public service.