LAU honors leader of Qatar with Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters

The honorary doctorate was bestowed upon H.E. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, on April 28.

April 30, 2010

LAU President Dr. Joseph G. Jabbra and Provost Dr. Abdallah Sfeir bestowed upon His Excellency the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters, at the BIEL Pavillon hall, on April 28.

A crowd of members of Lebanon's Council of Ministers, members of parliament, diplomatic corps, religious dignitaries, as well as faculty, students, staff and friends of LAU, attended the convocation ceremony.

Click on any photo above to view all seven images.

With great pride and enthusiasm, LAU President Dr. Joseph G. Jabbra and Provost Dr. Abdallah Sfeir bestowed upon His Excellency the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters, at the BIEL Pavillon hall in Beirut, on Wednesday, April 28.

A crowd of members of Lebanon’s Council of Ministers, members of parliament, diplomatic corps, religious dignitaries, as well as faculty, students, staff and friends of LAU, converged upon the event to witness His Excellency accept the honorary degree.

LAU faculty from both the Beirut and Byblos campuses marched in caps and gowns in honor of the convocation ceremony, as a symbol of their pride and support for the institution bestowing the degree upon the inspiring regional leader, who has been pushing Qatar to achieve countless economic and political accomplishments since he was appointed Prime Minister of the Gulf country in 2007.

Provost Sfeir opened the ceremony thanking the crowd gathered to honor the Qatari leader, “who has set an example to follow on how to bring people together to resolve their disputes through dialogue and the power of argument.”

He added: “We at LAU completely adhere to this school of thought and this kind of power, and our mission is precisely that of nourishing it to create better citizens, who build societies that are more prosperous, fair, ethical and respectful of human dignity.”

In his speech, President Jabbra stated: “We are gathered here to celebrate and honor a great man who has always taken life at the flood levels. He is brilliant, suave, debonair, astute but deeply caring, daring but wisely prudent, highly principled but pragmatic, and endowed with a decisive personality, an innate ability for mediation, and unshakeable loyalty and commitment to the state of Qatar.”

His Excellency the premier was educated in Qatar, Egypt and Britain after which, in 1980, he was appointed head of the ruling family trust. In 1982, he was appointed Director of the office of the Minister of Municipalities and Agriculture; in 1989, Minister of Municipalities and Agriculture; in 1990, Acting Minister of Electricity and Power; in 1992, Foreign Minister; and First Deputy Prime Minister since 2003.

On April 3, 2007, he was appointed Prime Minister, while retaining his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Qatari leader expressed his thanks and appreciation to LAU for awarding him the honorary doctorate in a speech in which he praised Lebanon’s role in knowledge production and dissemination of culture through its institutions. He said: “You have proved to the world that knowledge is an effective tool in promoting communication and the holding of dialogues, conflict resolution and introduction of the concept of a harmonious national work.” He added that Qatar is looking forward to lasting relations with Lebanon.

Dr. Jabbra admirably described His Excellency as “a role model in public behavior,” and noted many of his achievements as inspirations for LAU to grant him the honorary degree, including working to resolve border disputes with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, as well as other international disputes in the region, and bringing stability to Yemen, adding: “Through him, Qatar played a major role in facilitating an end to the crisis in Darfur.”

In Lebanon’s case, Dr. Jabbra recognized H.E.’s great contribution toward stability in the country, saying that “in 2006, he played a pivotal role at the meeting of the Arab foreign ministers in Beirut, following the Israeli aggression on Lebanon. … He played a major role in helping Lebanon resolve its 2008 threatening political standoff.” He also had a key role in establishing the Doha Agreement, which “provided a co-existence formula for peace among Lebanese, and banned the use of weapons in the country to settle any dispute.”

Internal security forces offered fanfare under the supreme leadership of General Ashraf Rifi, and Commandant Ziad Mrad offered musical direction. At the end of the convocation, the fanfare played the LAU Alma Mater, which was followed by the recessional of the faculty. After the ceremony, a reception was held in His Excellency’s honor at the BIEL Pavillon.

Find stories by date

Subscribe to the RSS feed

LAU honors leader of Qatar with Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters

More

Latest Stories