Under the leadership of Lois C. Richardson Ph.D., Senior Vice President/Provost (acting,) Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) joined the UCL as a member school. Ambassador Jeremiah Sulunteh, the Liberian Ambassador to the U.S. was the Commencement Speaker on May 14, 2015.
On-going discussions are underway with GGC to further define the UL relationship moving forward, including study abroad and student exchange.
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Yves Berthelot, Vice President for International Initiatives at Georgia Tech, and Pierre King, the Deputy Chair of the Liberian Telecommunication Corp (LibTelCo), joined Ms. Blandford in signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
The Memorandum states that the work of Dr. Michael Best in Liberia is to continue including training of government officials, advisory research and the establishment of a center of excellence on information and communication technologies and development. Georgia Tech will assist LibTelCo, the national communications operator in the development of the country’s broadband information technology network.
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His Excellency Jeremiah C. Sulunteh is a prominent Liberian politician, administrator and professor. His career in the areas of administration, teaching, and politics spans more than 30 years.
Due to his hard work, dedication to duty and patriotism to his country, Ambassador Sulunteh has risen through the ranks, from a humble beginning as senior commercial aide at the Bong County Agriculture Development Project in Bong County, Liberia, in 1981.
Since then, other positions he has occupied include the following: project coordinator, Friends of Liberia, 1995 to 1997; accounts service representative, Royal Bank of Canada, 1998 to 2000; financial aid advisor, York University, Canada, 2000 to 2002; and associate vice president for Planning and Development, Cuttington University, Liberia, 2002 to 2005.
Following her inauguration as Liberia and Africa’s first democratically elected president in 2006, Her Excellency Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was pleased to appoint Sulunteh as minister of Transport from 2006 to 2008. He also served as minister of Post and Telecommunications from 2008 to 2010, and as minister of Labor from 2010 to 2012.
Due to his wealth of experience and proven service, President Sirleaf was once again pleased to appoint Sulunteh as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Liberia to the United States of America in 2012.
Ambassador Sulunteh was also an economics professor at two of Liberia’s highest institutions of learning, the University of Liberia and the Cuttington University. He holds a master’s degree in economics from York University in Toronto, Canada; a master’s of public administration from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and a bachelor of science in economics from Cuttington University College in Liberia.
Biography courtesy of the Liberian Embassy and Georgia Gwinnett College
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Lance R. Askildson, Ph.D., Chief International Officer, Executive Director of the Institute for Global Initiatives at Kennesaw State University (KSU), hosted a private reception for Ambassador Sulunteh, Liberian Ambassador to the United States. Immediately following the reception, Ambassador Sulunteh and Honorary Consul General Blandford were invited to attend a private four-course catered lunch with each of the KSU College Deans.
The lunch meeting provided an intimate opportunity to discuss specific opportunities for engagement and collaboration with the government of Liberia and the higher education sector. Opportunities to provide or facilitate government training/education programs as well as public-private partnerships with the business sector were also anticipated as topics of discussion for this lunch.
KSU also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with University of Liberia’s President, Emmet Dennis earlier in the year where the focus on faculty and student exchange, STEM teacher training programs, Conflict Management scholarship programs, nursing program collaborations, culinary and hospitality opportunities and other efforts that support the University of Liberia and Kennesaw State University.
Plans were to travel to Senje Technical College in Liberia last year before the Ebola Crisis to discuss the culinary program opportunities with KSU. Hopefully, KSU will revisit this opportunity in the near-term.
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Under the leadership of Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President of Morehouse School of Medicine, UCL President and Dr. James Sirleaf, the Founder and Chair of HEARTT, INC., met to discuss partnerships and collaborations with President Rice, Dr. Lois Richardson and former Mayor Patsy Jo Hilliard, members of the Links in Atlanta, also facilitated a discussion on Ebola at Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. James Sirleaf, the Carter Center and the Honorary Consul General were on the panel discussion.