The Life of Food
July 2009
Banner photo: Oxheart tomatoes [© Creativ Studio Heinemann]
SGI President Receives 250th Academic Honor
Rector Søren Vang Rasmussen confers the University College South honorary doctorate upon SGI President Daisaku Ikeda [© Seikyo Shimbun]
On March 21, at the Soka University graduation ceremony in Tokyo, University College South of Denmark conferred an honorary doctorate upon Daisaku Ikeda, founder of Soka University and president of the SGI. This was the 250th academic honor he has received. University College South Rector Søren Vang Rasmussen conferred the degree in recognition of Mr. Ikeda's "long service and valuable contribution to research and practice toward the development of Education for Life." He said that Soka education has much in common with the strong Danish tradition of "education for life" inspired by N. F. S. Grundtvig, father of the Danish folk high school tradition, and author and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.
In his speech, Mr. Ikeda stressed the role of education as a countervailing power to the divisive forces of conflict and war. He also proposed the establishment of an intergovernmental panel on nuclear abolition to pool the wisdom of the world's scientists and disarmament experts, and urged that the world's people raise their voices to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Congratulatory messages were sent by Óscar Arias Sánchez, President of Costa Rica, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Danish Minister of Education Bertel Haarder.
Mr. Ikeda received his first honorary doctorate from Moscow State University in May 1975. Since then, universities and academic institutions in 46 countries have recognized his varied contributions to peace and education, including Peking University, the University of Bologna, the University of Denver, Ankara University, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the University of Sydney and the University of Ghana.
For a full list of honors and institutions visit: www.daisakuikeda.org
