Dame Sandra Mason | |
|---|---|
 Mason in 2019 | |
| 1st President of Barbados | |
| Assumed office 30 November 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Mia Mottley |
| Preceded by | Office established Elizabeth II (as Queen of Barbados) |
| 8th Governor-General of Barbados | |
| In office 8 January 2018 – 30 November 2021 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Freundel Stuart Mia Mottley |
| Preceded by | Philip Greaves (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sandra Prunella Mason 17 January 1949 Saint Philip, Colony of Barbados |
| Political party | Independent |
| Education | University of the West Indies, Cave Hill (LLB) Hugh Wooding Law School (LEC) |
| Occupation |
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Dame Sandra Prunella Mason FB GCMG DA SC (born 17 January 1949) is a Barbadian politician, lawyer, and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021. She was previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2021, the second woman to hold the office. On 20 October 2021, Mason was elected by the Parliament of Barbados to become the country's first president, and took office on 30 November 2021, when Barbados ceased to be a constitutional monarchy and became a republic.
Mason was a practicing attorney-at-law who has served as a High Court judge in Saint Lucia and a Court of Appeal judge in Barbados, and was the first woman admitted to the bar in Barbados. She served as chair of the CARICOM commission to evaluate regional integration, was the first magistrate appointed an ambassador from Barbados, and was the first woman to serve on the country's Supreme Court. She was the first appointee from Barbados to the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal. In 2017, she was appointed the 8th governor-general of Barbados, with a term beginning on 8 January 2018. Simultaneously with her appointment, Mason was awarded the Dame Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. On assumption of the office of Governor-General, she became the Chancellor of the Order of National Heroes, Order of Barbados and the Order of Freedom.[1][2]
- ^ "Order of National Heroes Act 1998" (PDF). Government of Barbados. 20 April 1998. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ Government of Barbados (19 August 2019). "Official Gazette – No. 67 (Package)". Government Information Service. Retrieved 26 April 2021.