26 Facts About Sandra Mason

Dame Sandra Prunella Mason was born on 17 January 1949 and is a Barbadian politician, lawyer, and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021.

Sandra Mason 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.

Sandra 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.

Sandra Mason 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.

Sandra Mason was the first appointee from Barbados to the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal.

Simultaneously with her appointment, Sandra Mason was awarded the Dame Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

Sandra Prunella Mason was born on 17 January 1949 in Saint Philip, Barbados.

Sandra Mason enrolled in the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, where she earned a Bachelor of Laws.

Sandra Mason was one of the first graduates of the Faculty of Law from UWI, Cave Hill, completing her education in 1973.

Sandra Mason is a Soroptimist and Patron of SI Barbados.

In 1978, Sandra Mason began working as the Magistrate of the Juvenile and Family Court and simultaneously tutoring in family law at UWI.

Sandra Mason stopped tutoring in 1983 and continued working as a magistrate.

In 1988, Sandra Mason completed the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London's course on Judicial Administration.

Sandra Mason served on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child from its 1991 inception until 1999, holding the vice chair from 1993 to 1995 and chair from 1997 to 1999.

Between 1991 and 1992, Sandra Mason served as chair and was one of the two women appointed to the 13-member CARICOM commission charged with evaluating regional integration.

Sandra Mason left the family court in 1992 to serve as an ambassador to Venezuela, and was the first woman magistrate from Barbados to serve in that position.

In 2000, Sandra Mason completed studies on Alternative Dispute Resolution at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and then completed a Fellowship with the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2001, as well as a course in Advanced Dispute Resolution at UWI.

Sandra Mason continued to serve as Registrar of the Supreme Court until 2005, when she was appointed as Queen's Counsel to the Inner Bar of Barbados.

In 2008, Sandra Mason was sworn in as an Appeals Judge becoming the first woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals.

In 2017, Sandra Mason was appointed as the eighth Governor-General of Barbados, with a term beginning on 8 January 2018.

Simultaneously with her appointment, Sandra Mason was appointed a Dame Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

Sandra Mason was then expected to be nominated as a candidate to be the first president of Barbados, then to be elected by the two houses of parliament, and to assume office on 30 November 2021.

On 12 October 2021, Sandra Mason was nominated by Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley to become the first President of Barbados.

Sandra Mason took office on 30 November 2021, the 55th anniversary of Independence.

Sandra Mason made her first official visit to Kenya in June 2022.