Southfield, Mich. – Lawrence Technological University will award an honorary doctoral degree in humanities to His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, prime minister of the kingdom of Bahrain, an important American ally located off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

The ceremony will take place Friday, June 27, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dearborn. The honorary degree presentation will be coordinated with an address the prime minister will make to the United Nations in New York City.

The prime minister will be honored for his leading role in establishing a dynamic free market economy and creating the infrastructure for an innovative and socially and environmentally sustainable society. Since he became prime minister in 1970, His Highness has made great progress towards eliminating poverty in his country through the provision of housing, health care and education opportunities.

Bahrain has played a key role in the history and commerce of the gulf region due to its strategic location. A bridge has linked it to Saudi Arabia since 1986. Now under construction is a 28-mile bridge between Bahrain and Qatar, which will be the longest in the world when it is completed. Bahrain is a banking, insurance and communications center for the Middle East.

Lawrence Tech President Lewis N. Walker and Provost Maria Vaz traveled to Bahrain in January to meet with the prime minister and other officials. They discussed the possibility of offering Lawrence Tech degree programs in Bahrain in engineering, computer science, architecture and management.

“The prime minister has been a good friend to Lawrence Tech and has supported our efforts to establish new educational programs in Bahrain,” Walker said.

Lawrence Tech currently has international academic agreements with universities in Egypt, Jordan, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Germany, China, Taiwan, India and Canada.

“His Highness has seized every opportunity to advance the people of the kingdom of Bahrain and the region,” Walker said. “Bahrain has become an example of tolerance and cultural understanding that the rest of the world can learn from.”

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, offers over 80 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management. Founded in 1932, the 4,500-student, private university pioneered evening classes 75 years ago, and today has a growing number of weekend and online programs. Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus is in Southfield, with education centers in Lansing, Livonia, Clinton Township, Traverse City and Petoskey. Lawrence Tech also offers programs with partner universities in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.