Kul Chandra Gautam receives honorary doctorate degree from Dartmouth College

The distinguished Nepali diplomat Kul Chandra Gautam has said he is “humble and happy” to have received an honorary doctorate degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States.  He received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 51 years after he graduated from there and as his class of 1972 was celebrating its 50th reunion and sharing nostalgic memories. His  wife Binata, daughter Jyotsna, grandchildren Riddhi & HrigVed Gautam were also present at the occasion.

Dartmouth College is a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution and among the most prestigious in the nation. Although founded to educate Native Americans in Christian theology and the English way of life, Dartmouth primarily trained Congregationalist ministers during its early history before it gradually secularized, emerging at the turn of the 20th century from relative obscurity into national prominence.

Kul Chandra Gautam as a distinguished diplomat, development professional, and human rights activist, he has proven himself to be the world’s ultimate citizen-leader, fighting poverty and injustice, fiercely advocating for peace, and significantly improving the welfare of children worldwide.

Born in 1949 in a small village in Nepal, he learned English, in part, by playing Scrabble with Peace Corps volunteers. When one of those volunteers, a Dartmouth ’65 named Zachary Hahn, inspired his dream of studying at Dartmouth, he made that dream a reality.

An exceptionally gifted student, he became the first Nepali ever to be admitted to the College, arriving in Hanover in 1968. He graduated just three years later with a degree in international relations that would serve as the foundation for his life’s work.

He began your career as a program officer at UNICEF in 1973, rising to become both deputy executive director of UNICEF and assistant secretary general of the United Nations in the year 2000. In his 35 years with the organization, he not only played a central role in providing life-saving vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable children, but increased access to education for girls and laid the groundwork for today’s Sustainable Development Goals.

True to his roots, he gave back to his home country as special adviser to the prime minister of Nepal on international affairs and have continued to actively promote human rights, socioeconomic development, democracy, and good governance in Nepal’s civil society.

‘For your belief in a hopeful future – particularly for the children of the world—and for your lifelong commitment to making that future possible as a humanitarian of the highest order, it is our privilege to award you the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters,’  Dartmouth College announced.