Georgian Sate Agrarian University at Tbilisi, Georgia, has awarded two ISU faculty members with honorary doctorates.

Provost Rollin Richmond and Ramesh Kanwar, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, received honorary degrees for their work developing a partnership with the university and long-term research.

The university is located in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia on the east side of the Baltic Sea. It is designed to support the agriculture industry, although nothing with livestock.

“The university has many of the same foci as ISU,” Richmond said.

The World Bank, which helps developing countries establish stable and democratic economies, in Washington D.C. contacted Kanwar to develop a professional relationship with a developing country. “We have be working in a partnership to help refocus research and training programs,” Kanwar said.

Currently, Kanwar works with the Dean of Agriculture and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Georgia.

Richmond said he is working with administrators at Georgian Sate to “cement a relationship between the universities.”

He is also working to create more opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.

Kanwar and more than 25 other ISU representatives will be returning to Georgia for two weeks to develop programs. The project has received funding for an additional five years, during which ISU professors and students will travel to Georgia, and a delegation from Georgia will visit Iowa State in return.

“I hope to create opportunities for both universities develop scientific programs,” he said.