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Biography

Name:

Dr. the Hon. Linford Ainsworth Pierson, OBE, JP, PhD. FCCA

Former Speaker of the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly

Biography:

Dr. Linford Pierson was born on the 24th day of February 1941, in the district of East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. After returning from High School in Jamaica, followed by a short stint as a merchant seaman with National Bulk Carriers, he moved to George Town in 1960, where he has since resided.

From his early childhood, Dr. Pierson believed that “anything worth doing is worth doing well.” This personal mantra led him, in 1978, to become the first Caymanian to qualify as a professional accountant. He worked for 16 years in the Cayman Islands Civil Service (1963-1979), where he filled a number of senior positions, including Principal Secretary for Health, Education, and Social Services, and Deputy Financial Secretary. During the 1980s he was employed in various private sector positions including Director of Finance for Cayman Airways, local Partner of KPMG/Thorne Riddell (Canadian Chartered Accounting firm), and Director of a number of private companies.

Dr. Pierson represented the District of George Town for 16-plus years as an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly, having been first elected in 1984. During his political career he filled the position of a Cabinet Minister for 7 years. In his first term as a Minister (1988-1992), he completed a number of important projects, including the Cayman Islands Building Code, upgrade of the telecommunication system to accommodate the 911 system within the Cayman Islands, installation of the Bulk Storage Fuel Terminal in Cayman Brac, and establishment of the first Public Water Supply System in Cayman Brac. In his second term as a Cabinet Minister (2000-2003), among the number of projects which he spearheaded, Dr. Pierson successfully negotiated the liberalization of the Telecommunications Sector, which had hitherto been monopolized by a single telecommunications company. In 2002 Government honoured Dr. Pierson by naming the “Linford Pierson Highway” after him, in recognition of his accomplishments as Minister with responsibility for road works.

In 2003, Dr. Pierson was elected as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and served in that position until his retirement in March 2005. In addition to his combined public service, which spanned approximately 33 years (16 years in the Civil Service, and 16 plus years as a political representative), he assisted in a number of civic/community services. As a Rotarian since 1968, he served as Past President of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Central (1988-1989), and Past Assistant District Governor in Rotary District 7020, for the period 2004/2005.

In 2008 Dr. Pierson earned a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Psychology and Counselling (MAPPC), followed by the conferral of a PhD degree in Educational Psychology in 2012. In recognition of his academic achievement in his doctoral studies, in 2010 he was inducted into PSI CHI (The International Honor Society in Psychology).He is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), having received his associate membership in 1978, and a Fellow of the Association in 1983.

In 2001 Dr. Pierson was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He has been a Justice of the Peace since 1976, and a Notary Public since 1983. He is married to Sharon, an attorney-at-law, and has three children, two step children, eight grandchildren, and one great grandchild.