Honorary Degree Awarded to
Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah '78 P'10

Responsible leader. Extraordinary individual. Tireless diplomat. These were among the words used during a luncheon ceremony on Monday to describe His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah '78 P'10, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kuwait, who was presented with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws during a visit to CMC on May 3. Awarded by the CMC Board of Trustees, President Pamela B. Gann, and Vice President and Dean of the Faculty Gregory D. Hess, the honorary degree is in appreciation for Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al Sabah's contributions and achievements in public service, and for promoting mutual cooperation and diplomacy.
In other honors on Monday, His Excellency also was presented a certificate of welcome from the Mayor of Claremont, Linda Elderkin, for his commitment to outreach to "shape our world on a local, national, and international level."
Accompanying His Excellency to campus were Kuwaiti dignitaries from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Higher Education. CMCers who attended the luncheon and ceremony at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum say they found His Excellency's remarks to be tinged with cheerful humor as well as infectious pride for his alma mater. One student says she was impressed with how, during an informal discussion with students in Freeberg Lounge following the official presentation, His Excellency shook each of their hands and took time to speak with them all individually.
HE Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Sabah graduated cum laude from CMC in 1978 with a B.A. in economics. Although he would later earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard, His Excellency told his audience on Monday that his Ivy League graduate studies were a "piece of cake" compared to the academic pursuit of earning his bachelor's with honors at CMC.
"CMC instilled in me an insatiable appetite for drive and excellence," he recalled.
So fond is he of Claremont McKenna, in fact, that he says he turned down an invitation from former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to speak at Stanford University this week because the two engagements would have conflicted. His true passion, he says, remains for CMC. "Let your heart float and drift in the sea of passion," he noted. "There is no love but your first love."
His Excellency is the father of Duaij Mohammed Al-Sabah, who will graduate in May 2010. "A father can never ask for more than to be his son's classmate," Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah quipped.
Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2003, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2005. Prior to these positions, he was the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2001-2003, and he served as the Ambassador of Kuwait to the United States from 1993-2001.
In addition to his senior governmental positions, HE Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Sabah has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development since 2003. The Kuwait Fund, founded in 1961, has more than $15 billion in total assets, and the object of the Fund is to assist Arab and other developing countries in developing their economies. He was a founding member of the Kuwait America Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based charitable organization. Its mission is to express gratitude for American sacrifice and strengthen ties among the peoples of the two countries.