Nita Barrow

Dame Ruth Nita Barrow GCMGFRCN (15 November 1916 – 19 December 1995) was the first and only female Governor-General of Barbados. She was a nurse and humanitarian activist from Barbados. She served as Governor-General of Barbados from 6 June 1990 until her death on 19 December 1995. She was also the sister of Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados.

Ruth Nita Barrow was born in Barbados, the second of her parents' five children. She trained as a nurse, midwife and health care administrator, holding a variety of nursing, public health and public administration jobs in Barbados and Jamaica in the 1940s/1950s.

She was a member of the Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons that visited South Africa in 1986. During that mission she successfully thwarted South Africa's military restrictions, through entering the restricted area of Alexandra township disguised in African garb and head-dress.

In 1980 Barrow was conferred the highest honour in Barbados; she was made a Dame of St. Andrew (DA) of the Order of Barbados. She was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing.

The Errol & Nita Barrow Educational Trust raises funds and make financial awards to enable Bajans and Commonwealth Caribbean citizens to pursue a course of study that will further the development of Barbados and the Caribbean.

• Public health advisor to the World Health Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization (1963–75)
• President of the World YWCA (1975–83)
• President of the International Council for Adult Education (1982–90)
• President of the World Council of Churches (1983)
• Ambassador to the United Nations (1986–90)
• Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Nursing

• 1975 Doctor of Laws, University of the West Indies
• 1980 Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing
• 1980 Dame of St. Andrew, by Order of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• 1982 Doctor of Science, McMaster University, Canada
• 1983 Gamaliel Chair Lecturer, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, USA
• 1984 Spirit of Caribbean Award, Caribbean Resources Foundation
• 1985 West Indian of the Year, Bajan Magazine
• 1986 Caribbean Prize for Peace through the Struggle for Justice, Caribbean Council of Churches
• 1986 Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award, Kiwanis Club of Barbados
• 1987 CARICOM Women's Award
• 1987 Doctor of Laws, University of Toronto, Canada
• 1987 Doctor of Human Letters, Morris Brown University, USA
• 1988 Doctor of Humanities, Mount St. Vincent University, Canada
• 1988 Doctor of Laws, University of Winnipeg, Canada
• 1988 Presidential Medal, Brooklyn College, USA
• 1988 Honorable Doctor of Laws, Spelman College, USA
• 1989 The Christiane Reimann Prize, International Council of Nurses, Geneva, Switzerland