(NEWS) IMO Secretary-General Visits WMU

January

2016

IMO Secretary-General Visits WMU

PRESS RELEASE: 27 January 2016

On 26 January, Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization and WMU Chancellor, was welcomed by Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, WMU President, on his first official visit to the University since assuming the role of Secretary-General on 1 January 2016. Mr. Lim was accompanied by the Director of the Technical Co-operation Division, Mr. Nicolaos Charalambous.

Mr. Lim met with senior members of staff and also addressed the WMU faculty and staff highlighting his years as a student at WMU from 1989-1991 and emphasizing how he has found the WMU global network of alumni invaluable throughout his career. He further voiced his intention to support the important capacity building mission of the University and to promote the financial sustainability of WMU.

Mr. Lim also addressed the M.Sc. students in the class of 2016 as well as many of the full-time Ph.D. students. In his remarks he emphasized the value of his WMU education to his ultimate career path and noted a sense of responsibility as the first WMU graduate to hold the office of IMO Secretary-General, stating that he was the first of many to come. Mr. Lim encouraged the students to have a dream for their future, and to take a step by step approach to make that dream come true. He highlighted the World Maritime Day theme for 2016, Shipping: Indispensable to the World, and encouraged the students to remain humble as they assume the top management roles in the vitally important maritime industry advising that, “We are living in a competitive society, and being humble is a high-level strategy for success.”

“It was a great honor to welcome Mr. Lim to WMU in his official role as Secretary-General and WMU Chancellor and one of his first official visits since assuming his functions. We are both honored and delighted. It is indeed inspiring for both students and staff that Mr. Lim, a graduate of WMU, has risen to assume such an important function for the maritime community. We wish him well and as Chancellor of WMU our full support and commitment,” stated President Doumbia-Henry.

Kitack Lim was elected Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by the 114th session of the IMO Council in June 2015 for a four-year period beginning 1 January 2016. The election was endorsed by the IMO's Assembly at its 29th session in November 2015. Mr. Lim (Republic of Korea) is the eighth elected Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization and in his role also fulfills the role of Chancellor of WMU. Mr. Lim obtained an MSc degree from WMU in 1991 with a specialization in Maritime Safety and Administration. He is the first the first Chancellor and first IMO Secretary General, to hold an MSc degree from WMU.

PHOTOS https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5VGmBAHJ2dZYkdWOHNpenVCZ28

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