Biography
Patrick Linton Allen was appointed Governor-General of Jamaica on 26 February 2009. He is the sixth person, and fifth Jamaican, to hold this position since independence in 1962. He was born on 7 February 1951 in the farming community of Fruitful Vale, Portland, the fourth of five children of Ferdinand and Christina (née Grant) Allen. He attended the Fruitful Vale All-Age School and, after completing his GCE examinations in 1968 by private study, he joined the staff of the school as a pre-trained teacher at the age of 17. Two years later, he enrolled in the Moneague Teacher's College. Following his graduation, he taught at the Water Valley All-Age School in St. Mary for three years before being appointed Principal of the Robins Bay Primary School in St. Mary in 1976. In 1978 he became Principal of the Hillside Primary School in St. Mary, which had an enrollment four times the size of Robins Bay All-Age School.
A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Allen felt called as early as age 11 to serve as a full-time pastor, which he consistently resisted as he pursued his teaching career. In 1980 he entered Andrews University in Michigan where he attained a Bachelor's degree in History and Religion before pursuing a Master's degree in Systematic Theology. Allen returned to Jamaica in 1986 and was assigned as a pastoral intern to various churches in Spanish Town and May Pen. He was formally ordained as a Seventh Day Adventist pastor in 1989. Following his ordination, Allen served as pastor of the Spanish Town Seventh Day Adventist Church, the largest church in the Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists. He was later appointed Education and Communications Director of the Central Jamaica Conference and subsequently served as Director of Education and Family Life of the West Indies Union of Seventh Day Adventists based in Mandeville.
In 1996 Sir Patrick returned to Andrews University to read for his doctorate, and in 1998 he was awarded the Ph.D degree in Education Administration and Supervision. During that period he worked as Assistant Registrar of Andrews University. Upon his return to Jamaica in 1998, he was elected President of the Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists with responsibility for the parishes of St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Mary and St. Ann. In 2000, he was elected President of the West Indies Union of Seventh Day Adventists with overall responsibility for the Seventh Day Adventist churches and related organizations in Jamaica, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. He was re-elected President in 2005. Allen is a past Chairman of the Board of Governors of Northern Caribbean University. He is also past Chairman of the Board of Directors for Andrews Memorial Hospital, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Book and Nutrition Centre Ltd. and West Indies Union Investment Management Ltd.
He oversaw the network of Adventist-administered educational institutions in Jamaica which comprise 10 high schools, 22 primary schools and numerous basic schools. He also serves as a member of the Police Civilian Oversight Authority, the Strategic Review Implementation Oversight Committee for the Jamaica Constabulary Force and is a former Director of the Public Broadcasting Corporation.
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