The University of Shanghai for Science and Technology – Sino British College (SBC) is immensely proud to announce that Dr. Nicoleen Amoy Johnson, a distinguished lecturer in Business and Management at SBC, has been selected as a 2026 Award Designate for the Governor-General’s Achievement Award (Diaspora), Award of Excellence — one of Jamaica’s highest national honours for members of its global diaspora.
Established in 2008, the award recognises individuals who have demonstrated exceptional personal success, philanthropy, and leadership in promoting and preserving Jamaican heritage. To date, fewer than 60 individuals worldwide have received this honour. This year’s ceremony marks a historic milestone, as for the first time the programme expanded beyond its founding regions (USA, UK and Canada) to select only two additional recipients from among the diaspora in Asia, Africa, Mainland Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific, and South America — a testament to the global significance of Dr. Johnson’s contributions in China.
Born in Bethel Town, Westmoreland, Jamaica, Dr. Johnson came from humble beginnings but excelled academically from her earliest years. In 1997, she won a Chinese Government Scholarship to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where she earned a Master’s degree in International Relations and a PhD in International Politics, making her the first Jamaican in history to obtain two postgraduate degrees from a Chinese university. Over the past three decades, she has been deeply engaged in fostering cultural exchange and economic cooperation between Jamaica and China. She founded the Caribbean Association in China and the Jamaican Association China, played instrumental roles in major international events such as the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and helped facilitate Jamaica’s first direct investments in Shanghai.
Her nomination was supported by extraordinary letters of recommendation from distinguished Jamaican diplomats, both past and current Ambassadors, who described her as “an invaluable asset to our diaspora and a proud ambassador for our nation” and “without question, one of the most remarkable Jamaicans I have had the privilege of knowing.”
Reflecting on the honour, Dr. Johnson stated: “Receiving this award is deeply humbling. It validates a nearly 30-year journey of transforming cultural barriers into academic and economic bridges. From my roots in Jamaica to the lecture halls of Shanghai, my goal has always been to uplift my community and foster global connections. I hope my journey inspires the next generation of global leaders to know that their roots can anchor them anywhere in the world.”
At SBC, Dr. Johnson is known as a passionate, dedicated, and transformative educator, recognised with Inspirational Teaching Award by SBC’s UK partner university for both the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic years.
This well-deserved honour recognises Dr. Johnson’s nearly three decades of dedication, while also reflecting the outstanding calibre of our faculty in cultivating globally competent talent and fostering cross-cultural exchange and SBC’s unwavering commitment to internationalisation and global engagement.
Dr. Nicoleen Johnson with her 2026 Governor-General’s Achievement Award (Diaspora), Award of Excellence
