Dr. T. Vidhya (Vid) N. Persaud, born, 1940, Port Mourant, Guyana, earned his M.D., Rostock University, Germany, 1965, and Ph.D., University of the West Indies, 1970. After completing his internship in Berlin, Dr. Persaud served as Government Medical Officer, Guyana, 1966-67. He was appointed Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, 1967-72, University of West Indies. In 1972 Dr. Persaud joined the medical faculty, University of Manitoba, where he became Professor and Head of the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, 1977-1993. Dr. Persaud is now Professor Emeritus, 1999, University of Manitoba; Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, since 1979, and Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, since 1989. Dr. Persaud is deeply involved in the study of embryology and birth defects, and since 1965, has published numerous research papers and 22 books in this area including Advances in the Study of Birth Defects (Vols. 1-7, 1979 to 1982), Environmental Causes of Human Birth Defects, 1990, and The Developing Human, with the University’s former Head of Anatomy, Dr. Keith L. Moore (6th ed., 1998). Dr. Persaud has received several awards in recognition of his teaching and research including the Dr. and Mrs. Saunderson Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Manitoba, 1985; Albert Einstein Centennial Medal, Academy of Sciences, Germany, 1981, Andreas Vesalius Medal, University of Pisa, 1986, and the J.C.B. Grant Award, Canadian Association of Anatomists, 1991. Dr. Persaud is considered one of the world’s leading authorities in the field of teratology. [Photo, courtesy Dr.T.V.N. Persaud]

At 12 years, Andra Persaud Thakur, born on a sugar plantation where his grandfather had served as an indentured bonded labourer, was forced to quit school in his native Guyana to help his father, a peasant rice farmer. Apprenticed as a tailor in the off season, Andra became a journeyman at 13, and by 21, owned a small sewing business employing 12  journeymen and apprenctices. He was 27 before the opportunity arose to return to school, enrolling at Alberta College, Edmonton, and after two semesters, went to the University of Alberta as a mature student. Eight years later, with a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Anthropology, he taught in West Africa over the next six years, first, at the University of Ghana, then the University of Benin, Nigeria, before returning to the University of Alberta, 1984. Until 1987, he served briefly as executive director, Edmonton Immigrant Services Association, then moved to Nanaimo, B.C., to teach cultural anthropology and cross-cultural education at Malaspina University College. Professor Thakur has lectured in China, is affiliated with a university in India, has taught in Northern Thailand and more recently conducted Field Schools in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Bali, and the Caribbean. With reference to International Development, Professor Thakur, in his brief biography, cites the comment by Jerry Rawlings, President of Ghana: “Canada is the country that says the least and does the most.”  Andra adds in the same biography, “Had I not come to Canada, I might never have completed my primary or secondary education.” In this view, Professor Thakur, right, while teaching in Ghana, visits, circa 1980, President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana. [Photo, courtesy Professor A.P. Thakur]