Ban Ki-Moon to receive honorary degree from UW

By Staff
Northwest Asian Weekly

Ban Ki-Moon

Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Washington (UW) on Oct. 26 at a formal convocation. The ceremony will be presided over by UW President Mark Emmert and will take place in Meany Hall for the Performing Arts on the UW Seattle campus.

As part of the program, Ban will deliver the 2009 Severyns-Ravenholt lecture, which is named after UW graduate Marjorie Severyns Ravenholt, who chronicled the development of Asia as a foreign correspondent.

Ban Ki-Moon succeeded Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the UN in 2007. He was previously the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from 2004 to 2006. For 37 years, he had a career in the foreign service of his native country.

Ban is known for influencing the UN to protect human rights, open a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, and provide relief to hurricane victims in Myanmar.

Ban earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Seoul National University in 1970 and a Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985. He speaks Korean, English, French, German, and Japanese.

The ceremony on Oct. 26 is not open to the public. General admission seating is limited and is made available through a lottery that is open to UW students, faculty, and staff. However, the convocation will be aired live via webcast by UWTV. ♦