Graduation Speech of Professor Jean-Louis Armand, AIT President, at the 95th Graduation Ceremony
Professor Emeritus Shigehiko Hasumi, Former President of the University of Tokyo, honorary doctorate degree awardee and distinguished graduation speaker,
Your Excellency Mr. Jan Axel Nordlander, Ambassador of Sweden and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Dr. Arthit Ourairat, Former Minister of Science and Technology and President of Rangsit University,
Professor William C Webster, Vice Provost of UC Berkeley and Chairman of the Academic Advisory Panel
Professor Tatchai Sumitra, President, Chulalongkorn University
Your Excellencies and Honored Guests,
Trustees,
Faculty and Staff, Graduands,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Welcome to the 95th Graduation Ceremony of the Asian Institute of Technology. To our 343 graduands from 30 different countries assembled here today, our special congratulations!
For you - and here I would like to address directly our graduands - today is the culmination of years of hard work, personal sacrifice and commitment. It is a precious moment which you will treasure for a long time. This day is also very special for your parents, spouses, children, families, teachers and friends, who have provided the necessary moral and material support, and have made personal sacrifices, without which you would not have reached this significant milestone on the road to knowledge and high accomplishments.
The graduation ceremony is one of the most important occasions in the life of an academic community. The presence here today of so many distinguished dignitaries, together with our honorary doctorate degree awardee and graduation speaker Professor Emeritus Shigehiko Hasumi, former President of the University of Tokyo, significantly enhances the meaning of your graduation. During his Presidency at the University of Tokyo, Professor Hasumi took a leading role in the support of higher education globally and in the region, in particular in the strengthening of relations between AIT and the University of Tokyo. Through this institutional partnership, AIT's ability to carry out its mission of human resource development in the region has been immensely enhanced. The leadership of the University of Tokyo in facilitating Japanese faculty secondment, scholarships, and other forms of academic strengthening provided by the Government of Japan has enabled AIT to maintain high quality teaching and research. On behalf of the AIT community, I would like to take this opportunity to convey the expression of our profound gratitude for the generous support extended to the Institute by the Government of Japan for the past thirty years, together with our other donors and partners.
We are proud to have with us today the Ambassadors or their representatives of Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, the European Commission, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank.
They represent the partners who have generously supported AIT's mission to develop highly qualified and committed professionals who will play a leading role in the sustainable development of the region and its integration into the global economy.
We are also honored and privileged to have with us today members of the Academic Advisory Panel, along with the Greater Mekong Subregion Academic Research Network (GMSARN) International Board and Council of Advisors.
The conferring of degrees is a special function and privilege of an academic institution. It declares to society at large the accomplishments of students upon completion of their studies. You, our graduands, have multi-faceted accomplishments, you have acquired new knowledge and enhanced skills, and, with concomitant ethical and moral attributes, you are now equipped to venture into the world as well-educated individuals and responsible members of the global community. Since the first graduation in 1961, AIT's aim has always been to produce graduates who will give their all to bettering life for society as a whole, and we have every belief you will continue this noble tradition.
We are especially proud of the fact that, as graduates of this unique and well-respected institution of higher learning, you are now in the best position to act as a bridge between AIT and our partners in contributing towards the development of the region through human resources enhancement, research and outreach in science, technology, management and planning.
You are a very privileged group. This privilege will provide you with opportunities to explore avenues of research and endeavor for yourselves as well as give you responsibilities to carry out programs aimed at the improvement of others. You have a special obligation passed onto you by your elders to map out and lead in directions promoting a better society. In return, let me assure you that we will fulfill our responsibility to ensure that AIT upholds and enhances its mission and vision. The quality of an AIT degree must be unquestioned, and we will do all in our power to make sure that it is so.
Your gowns today symbolize your readiness to undertake these new challenges and responsibilities, which are now yours. I am sure that your years at AIT, your teachers and classmates from so many different countries and cultural backgrounds, the countless hours spent studying, and your moments of personal reflection, have helped build in you the confidence, capacity and courage that you will need in your long professional and personal journey ahead.
We hope that, as new members of the body of AIT alumni, you will demonstrate the honesty, integrity, diligence, professional competence and other qualities which characterize AIT graduates. Professional knowledge and achievement have to go in hand with the pursuit of truth, the promotion of peace, the enjoyment of and respect for beauty, and an active demonstration of compassion for the human lot.
As you embark on your journey, you carry our hopes and confidence, our pride and good wishes in the path you will take.
Our most sincere congratulations to all of you, and our thanks to your parents, relatives, teachers and friends for giving you their support this far, which I am sure will continue to be given as you advance into the professional world.
Thank you.