Former Israeli Prime Minister and Nobel Prize Winner Shimon Peres to Receive Honorary Degree from Clark University

    WORCESTER, Mass., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Nobel Prize winner Shimon Peres,
 former Israeli prime minister, will receive an honorary degree -- a day before
 meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton -- as part of Clark University's fall
 commencement at Clark's branch program in Israel.
     Clark commencement ceremonies will begin in Tel Aviv on Nov. 19, and Peres
 will be the keynote speaker.  Peres' honorary degree recognizes his vision of
 peace through global and cross-cultural understanding -- a vision shared by
 Clark's Israel Program, according to Thomas Massey, dean of Clark's College of
 Professional and Continuing Education Program.
     The Israel Program is a collaboration between Israel College in Tel Aviv
 and Clark University's College of Professional and Continuing Education.  As
 part of the program, Israeli professionals earn a master of science in
 professional communication or a master of public administration with a
 concentration in health, education, finance or local government.  Students
 study through the year at the Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem campuses in
 Israel, and complete their studies during an intensive six weeks at Clark.
 The program is in its third year and has graduated more than 500 students.  An
 additional 330 students will graduate during the November ceremonies.
     "It is amazing how the program has brought the Israeli students from
 various backgrounds together," says Laura Val, the coordinator of the Israel
 Program.  "The students work with each other harmoniously regardless of
 differences," Peres, a supporter of the Israel Program, has been a leader in
 Israel since the age of 20, when he was elected secretary of the Labor Party
 youth movement in 1943.  Peres played a key role in negotiations with the
 Palestinian Liberation Organization and in withdrawing Israeli forces from the
 West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  In 1994, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize for
 his work in advancing peace in the Middle East with the late Yitzhak Rabin and
 with PLO Chairman Yassar Arafat.  Following the assassination of Rabin on Nov.
 5, 1995, Peres became acting prime minister, and on Nov. 22, 1995, he was
 sworn in as prime minister and minister of defense.  He lost the election for
 prime minister to Benjamin Netanyahu.  Peres is presently the chairman of
 Israel's Labor Party.
     The Israel Program was recently approved by Israel's Ministry of
 Education.
 
 

SOURCE  Clark University