Alumnus Lamey Promoted to Major in Jamaica
October 19, 2009
LSU College of Engineering (CoE) graduate, Johnathan P. Lamey, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture in the College of Agriculture, Science & Education in Jamaica, was recently promoted to the rank of Major in the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF), where he served as Captain for a number of years. JCCF is similar to ROTC in the U.S. Lamey commands the "Alpha Company" of that Force's 3rd Battalion, and says, "To date I have served as 'founding Officer Commanding' for three new units of that Force: Port Antonio High School Cadet Unit, Buff Bay High School Cadet Unit, and I have the distinguished honor to be the founder of the 'College of Agriculture Officer Training Unit' of the JCCF."
Lamey entered LSU in January 1987. He joined and eventually became the Caribbean Student President, and was elected the International Student President at LSU. When asked for details of his proudest achievement as an undergraduate at LSU, Major Lamey replied, "Under my leadership, we purchased the former Down's Syndrome building on Dalrymple Drive. It was used for (and still houses) the International Students' Center."
A member of the Chancellor's Student Advisory, he eventually received a "Leadership LSU" award, signed by then Louisiana Governor, Buddy Roemer. In addition, he was elected to Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture for being on the Dean's List many times and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society.
Others may remember Lamey as the host of the weekly Reggae Show on KLSU radio station from 1989 through 1991. "I formed a musical 'live' performing group (The Algorhythms) while studying at LSU along with a second generation Estonian American named Avo Randruut and an Indian classical guitar player named Ramana Gogula (an electrical engineering grad of LSU) and another American, drummer Andrew Vetter," says Lamey. The band entered a U.S. national song competition and won a trip to perform on International Earth Day in Taiwan, Republic of China, in April 1991. They performed at many concerts on the LSU Parade Ground, in front of the LSU Union, and appeared in the Reveille on numerous occasions in the 1988 to 1990 period.
Lamey graduated from LSU with a BS in agricultural mechanization from the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering in 1989. He continued at LSU and earned an MS in engineering science in 1991.
Since graduation, Lamey has worked at Jamaica's College of Agriculture where he has been promoted to positions including senior lecturer, head of department, and even acting president, for a time. He now serves as dean of the Faculty of Agriculture. Lamey is an administrator who also teaches engineering technology courses including land surveying and food engineering.
Of his activities, Lamey explains, "I do 'wear other hats' too. I have been a member and a distinguished past president of the Kiwanis Club of Port Antonio (my hometown) in the Parish of Portland, a lay magistrate/justice of the peace (similar to being a notary public), and I currently hold one of the Vice Presidents' offices for the Portland Parish Chapter. I am also the current president of the nationally respected 'Portland Environment Protection Association' (since 2007). Nationally, I serve on the Board of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, a body that advises the Jamaican Minister of Agriculture on national policy matters."
In 2004, Lamey received the prestigious "Governor General's Award for Excellence" for community service in Jamaica. The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper reported, "Captain Lamey was singled out for his contributions in agriculture and academic excellence. He has pursued extensive studies in agricultural mechanization and, despite the trials faced in growing up in a poor farming family, he has become an accomplished teacher, lecturer, writer, adviser and dean."
