Rex Nettleford was born on February 3, 1933 in Falmouth, Jamaica, Nettleford attended Unity Primary School in Bunkers Hill, Trelawny, and graduated from Cornwall College in Montego Bay, before going to the University of the West Indies (UWI) to obtain an honours degree in history.
[6] He was a recipient of the 1957 Rhodes Scholarship to Oriel College, Oxford, where he received a postgraduate degree in Politics,[7] returning to Jamaica in the early 1960s to take up a position at UWI.
Rex died on February 2, 2010 In 1975, the Jamaican state recognized his cultural and scholarly achievements by awarding him the Order of Merit.
He also received the Gold Musgrave Medal (1981) and 13 honorary doctorates, including one in Civil Law from Oxford University.
Nettleford was an important individual to the extramural studies department at University of the West Indies and was also an advisor to political leaders in the Caribbean.