The (Korea Aerospace University (KAU) granted an honorary doctorate degree in aerospace management to Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president and first female state leader of Tanzania. The event took place on the 3rd at 2 PM in the auditorium of KAU. President Hassan chose KAU as the first location on her schedule after her official visit to Korea to participate in the “Korea-Arica Summit 2024,” held from 4 to 5 June.

Inaugurated in 2021, President Hassan brought peace into neighboring nations as well as her own through spectacular leadership and influence, drawing praise that she contributed to Tanzania’s transformation into the leading state of peace and democracy in Africa. In 2014, she led Tanzania’s democratic movements as the vice chairperson of the constitutional parliament that prepared the country’s new constitution.

 In 2022, she organized the COVID Measures Commission amid the epidemic, disclosing the nation’s crisis response status to the public and cooperating with the international community. Her efforts received worldwide acknowledgment, leading the USA Times to s e l e c ther as one of the “Times 100: Most Influential People in 2022.”

Marking its 32nd anniversary of diplomatic relations with Korea, the Tanzanian government seeks to actively scale its attraction of foreign investment and official development aid (ODA) according to its initiative, “Tanzania Development Vision 2025.” In particular, President Hassan strove to establish close ties with Korea, indicating the peninsular state in East Asia as Tanzania’s role model and sharing the country’s development experiences related to infrastructure related to the aerospace industry, ICT, and education.

To honor her achievements and contribute to the cooperative relationship between the two countries, KAU decided to confer President Hassan an honorary doctorate degree in aerospace management. “We decided to grant our university’s honorary doctorate degree to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who displayed outstanding leadership and vision for the prosperity of the international community,” said KAU President Hee-Young Hurr during his welcoming remarks. He added, “Through our collaboration with Tanzania, the nation with unprecedented potential in aerospace areas, I believe KAU will become the country’s partner that contributes to the development of airports and aviation industries across Africa as well as Tanzania.”

Jeong-Taek Hyeon, the chairperson of the Jeongseok Inha Educational Institute, also stressed, “President Hassan’s vision and contribution in realizing Tanzania’s economic growth coincides perfectly with KAU’s mission,” adding, “We hope our honorary doctorate degree becomes a steppingstone to Tanzania’s aerospace education for the development of relevant industries.”