Albert Bryan Jr. ’89 tells the story about asking one of his daughters if she knew how to climb a tree. Her response was that she did not climb trees. He then asked how she’d be able to get fruit to which she replied, at the supermarket.
This story explains Bryan’s attitudes toward conservation.
“Conservation is something I grew up with,” says Bryan, who was elected Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.) in 2019.
“On an island, garbage is a problem, so I grew up with one garbage bag a week. We recycled. Bread went to the chickens. Bones to the dogs. We drank out of jars.
“Now, just in water bottles alone you can fill a landfill,” says Bryan, who grew up on St. Thomas and now lives in St. Croix.
“And as a kid, if you wanted fruit you picked it from a tree.
“The islands are surrounded by natural beauty with a lot of natural wealth—everything is there to eat and drink. Fruit hangs on trees. We catch water in our cisterns. But we have to conserve what we use.
“It’s like living in a garden,” he adds.
“I grew up living close to the ground. If something broke, we fixed it rather than buying something new. We need to go back to living close to the ground.”
Because over 30 percent of the population is on public assistance, Bryan ran on a platform of changing the course of the U.S.V.I., which meant not just focusing on conservation, but also reducing poverty over the four islands he presides—St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John, and Water Island, a population of 110,000.
“Education fixes poverty.”
To this end, Bryan makes sure to visit schools because he wants the kids to understand that education is the key to a better life, an important message because only 17 percent of Virgin Islanders have a college degree, which is why his government now offers free tuition to the University of the Virgin Islands (U.V.I.) to anyone who graduates from Virgin Islands High School.
“I go to schools all the time because I want the kids to feel important. I’m not that important, but the office is. The ability of me to carry the office wherever I go so the kids think, ‘Wow, the governor wants me to succeed and is interested in us.’
“My goal is to help people get a better life through education, which will help them earn more and bring more money into the community,” says Bryan, who graduated from Wittenberg with a degree in economics and earned his MBA from the U.V.I. in 2003.
Bryan put a lot of stock in Wittenberg, moving almost 2,000 miles away from home to pursue his liberal arts education. One of his first lessons took place during his first winter at Wittenberg— a lesson one can only understand if one grows up on a tropical island.
“Wittenberg was a challenge in terms of the weather. I figured out why ‘they’ have heat in cars. That’s what that’s for. I grew up wondering why ‘you’ would put heat in a car.”
In terms of academics and preparing for his future, Wittenberg was the perfect laboratory for the future governor. His career track has reflected Wittenberg’s success in producing problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and creative graduates who can adapt and succeed wherever they land. He has pursued such diverse paths as an oil refinery worker, business office manager of a multimillion- dollar Virgin Islands corporation, commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor, and an entrepreneur focused on strategies to create business opportunities and career paths for others. He also inspired future generations in financial literacy and leadership as executive director of the Virgin Islands branch of Junior Achievement USA.
