KUALA KANGSAR: Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah today attended the 16th Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) Convocation Day at Dewan Jubli Perak.
Sultan Nazrin, who is also USAS Chancellor, was accompanied by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad and USAS vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Wan Sabri Wan Yusof.
Also present were state Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports committee chairman Khairudin Abu Hanipah and state secretary Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim.
The ceremony began with the recitation of verses from the Al-Quran before Sultan Nazrin bestowed the certificate of appointment to Tan Sri Professor Dr Nordin Kardi as USAS Pro-Chancellor.
The convocation ceremony saw a total of 1,525 graduates receiving 12 PhDs, 34 master's degrees, nine postgraduate diplomas, 778 bachelor's degrees and 692 diplomas.
In the ceremony, Sultan Nazrin also presented the Chancellor's Award to recipient Mohamed Aiedil Putera Sulaiman, a Bachelor of Business Administration graduate.
Sultan Nazrin also presented the Perak Menteri Besar Award to Muhammad Asyraf Mohd Zamri (Usuluddin Bachelor's Degree) and the Vice Chancellor's Award to Aljazira Zainal (Islamic Counseling Diploma).
Four graduates received the top awards from the Faculty of Islamic Studies and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Management and Information Technology.
They are Luqman Haqim Awang Kecil (Bachelor's Degree in Arabic); Mohamad Syahrul Asad Ab Malik (Diploma of Islamic Studies); Siti Nur Izzati Jumali (Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science) and Nurdania Fatihah Mohd Rohaizan (Diploma in Accounting).
Meanwhile, Wan Sabri in his speech, said today's ceremony marked a new history because USAS successfully produced the first batch of international graduates from the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
"Three PhD graduates are from Uganda and one is from Thailand.
"At the Master's and Bachelor's level, we are celebrating the first batch of graduates of the Master's Degree in Management for Online Distance Learning and the Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education.
"The achievements of these graduates are proof that knowledge knows no boundaries and academic talent transcends various cultures," he said.
