By resolution of the Academic Council of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), Dr. Amalia Moser, professor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Juergen Boss, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair; Dr. Peter Lydyard, emeritus professor at University College London, and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weng of Technical University of Berlin were awarded honorary doctorates for promoting TSU educational and scientific activities and popularizing Georgian culture. Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze; Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Aleksandre Jejelava; Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, Mikheil Giorgadze; foreign diplomats accredited in Georgia; members of the TSU Academic Council, professors and students attended the solemn ceremony held at TSU on January 17.
TSU Rector Giorgi Sharvashidze said: “The Academic Council made an important decision and awarded honorary doctorates to the high-ranking scientists and public figures, who will support our university in achieving its strategic development goals.”
“The Tbilisi State University has always been distinguished by its broad international links. Internationalization of the university teaching and its approximation with international standards is one of our central tasks. The honorary doctors are the friends and supporters of our university; it is important for strengthening the university’s reputation and improving the quality of teaching,” Minister of Education and Science, Aleksandre Jejelava said.
Minister of Culture and Monument Protection, Mikheil Giorgadze thanked Juergen Boss, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, for supporting and popularizing Georgian culture. He said: “The Frankfurt Book Fair is a huge international cultural forum. It is a unique platform to help the countries present themselves, as well as to help the authors find readers and open up new opportunities and new markets.”
Juergen Boss, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, thanked TSU for being awarded an honorary doctorate. “It is a great honor for me to be awarded an honorary doctorate. We will work on a joint project in frames of which Georgia will become an honorary guest of the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2018. It will give Georgia an opportunity to present its culture,” he said.
Following the awards ceremony, the professors delivered public lectures. Amalia Moser, professor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus project HERMES, founding member of the Athens Humanities Network delivered a public lecture on a topic “Time in Language”; a lecture delivered by Dr. Peter Lydyard, emeritus professor at University College London, was dedicated to a topic: “A, B in my bonnet about this never ending story”; a lecture “Future-Oriented Aspects of Economic Education” was delivered by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weng of Technical University of Berlin.
