Athens, Ga. – Internationally renowned UGA scholar Han S. Park was honored with the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders Prize at a special ceremony today at Morehouse College.
Park, who is University Professor of International Affairs and director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues at UGA, received the award for his commitment to finding peaceful solutions to challenges arising from the Korean peninsula.
He is the 10th recipient of the award, which is designed to promote peace and positive social transformation by honoring those demonstrating extraordinary global leadership through nonviolent means.
“This is a fitting and well-deserved honor for one of the University of Georgia’s most loyal faculty members. Han Park came to UGA 40 years ago, and thousands of students have benefitted from his unique experiences in international affairs,”said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “Dr. Park is the very model of a citizen of the global academy, and espouses in every way the values of the namesakes of the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builder’s Prize. As a skilled negotiator and envoy in one of the world’s most contentious conflicts, he has served the Korean Peninsula, the United States and indeed the entire world in ways that I believe are not yet fully recognized.On behalf of the University of Georgia, I extend congratulations to Dr. Park and gratitude to Morehouse College for recognizing him in this way.”
As part of the honor, an oil portrait of Park was added to the Hall of Honor in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College.
“We are thrilled to honor Dr. Han Park with the prestigious award,” said Lawrence E. Carter, dean of the chapel. “Park has distinguished himself not only as an international peacemaker, but also as a humanitarian. He is the founding president of Uniting Families Inc., which has reunited hundreds of families from China and the Koreas.”
The award is named for Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Daisaku Ikeda. Past recipients of the award include former South African President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
