Unhas rector: Honorary doctorate for Xanana Gusmao strengthens Indonesia-Timor-Leste academic ties

Hasanuddin University sees an honorary doctorate for Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao as more than an academic distinction. Rector Jamaluddin Jompa described the award as a strategic step toward strengthening ties between Indonesia and Timor-Leste through education and research.

The ceremony took place on Saturday, September 5, at the AP Pettarani Building on the university’s Tamalanrea campus in Makassar. Jompa said the distinction could expand cooperation in education, research, knowledge exchange, student mobility and alumni networks.

“

This award has strategic meaning for Unhas. We want to strengthen relations between Indonesia and Timor-Leste through education, research and academic networks. Science can open broader avenues of cooperation for the younger generations of both countries.

“This award has strategic meaning for Unhas. We want to strengthen relations between Indonesia and Timor-Leste through education, research and academic networks. Science can open broader avenues of cooperation for the younger generations of both countries,” Jompa said.

He identified two main purposes for the honorary doctorate: recognizing the journey of an important figure and using the occasion to reinforce the university’s academic diplomacy with Timor-Leste. In his view, students, academics, researchers and alumni can create new forms of contact between the two countries through education, research and the exchange of ideas.

“

The honorary doctorate for Xanana has two meanings. It honors the journey of an important figure academically, while also serving as a moment to strengthen Unhas’s academic diplomacy with Timor-Leste.

Jompa said Unhas wants to become a knowledge bridge connecting Indonesia, Timor-Leste, ASEAN and the Pacific. The university intends to turn geographic proximity into intellectual closeness, continue political friendship through educational cooperation, and express peace commitments through research and community service.

“Unhas sees itself as an academic bridge that will help strengthen Timor-Leste during its journey toward ASEAN membership. After it is accepted as a full member, we are ready to support this integration process so that it becomes stronger and more meaningful,” he said.

“

Unhas sees itself as an academic bridge that will help strengthen Timor-Leste during its journey toward ASEAN membership. After it is accepted as a full member, we are ready to support this integration process so that it becomes stronger and more meaningful.