On August 23, Soka University founder Daisaku Ikeda received an honorary doctorate degree from National University of Tucuman (UNT) in Argentina. He is the first Japanese to receive the prestigious degree from the Argentinian institution.

UNT was founded by aristocrats of the city of Tucuman in 1914 and has since become the largest in the country’s northwest region with 13 academic faculties and 65,000 students.

At the conferral ceremony held at Soka University, Rector Alicia Bardon praised Daisaku Ikeda for his work to advance education for the sake of peace. She added that UNT’s board of trustees were unanimous in their decision to confer the honorary degree.

In his acceptance speech read by proxy, Mr. Ikeda extended the utmost gratitude for the academic honor. He referred to the achievements of Dr. Ricardo Rojas, a renowned educator and writer from Tucuman, and expressed his resolve to unite people—young people in particular—around the world in a shared effort to build a truly better and more prosperous future for all.