December 8, 2009
Yu Da University, Taiwan, Honors Lifetime Dedication to Peace
Yu Da University, located in the Zaociao Township of Miaoli County, Taiwan, presented its first honorary professorship to Soka University founder Daisaku Ikeda by proxy at a conferral ceremony on December 8, 2009, at Soka University in Hachioji, Tokyo. Mr. Ikeda was recognized for his dedication to peace and his work advocating for the sanctity of life. Yu Da University President Tang Yen-Po entrusted the certificate for Mr. Ikeda to Soka University President Hideo Yamamoto. Accompanying the certificate was a plaque inscribed with a Chinese poem paying tribute to Mr. Ikeda, composed by Yu Da University founder Wang Kwang-ya, who was also part of the Chinese delegation together with Board of Trustees member Wang Yu-Wen.
Yu Da University founder Wang Kwang-ya (3rd from left) presents the certificate of honorary professor for Mr. Ikeda to Soka University President Hideo Yamamoto (3rd from right)
Founded in 1999 as Yu Da College of Business, the institute was renamed Yu Da University in August 2009. Leadership in domestic and international commerce is the focus of study for the 8,000 students matriculating in Yu Da University's three undergraduate schools: Finance and Economics, Management, and Humanities and Social Sciences. The university has also developed academic exchanges with more than 40 institutes of higher learning in nine countries since it was established 10 years ago.
In a message read by Soka Women's College President Hideaki Ishii, Mr. Ikeda expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the accolade. Emphasizing that human beings are the source of peace, culture and prosperity and that education is the sacred undertaking for cultivating people's creative potential, Mr. Ikeda affirmed his belief that those who are dedicated to the development of education, such as Yu Da University founder Wang, are the ultimate victors and exemplars. Education, he said, is a profound undertaking for breaking through the morass of the contemporary age and opening the way to humanity's happiness into the eternal future.
[Adapted from an article in the December 9, 2009, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]
