Guest Speakers	Africa Higher Education Collaborative (AHEC)
Overview > Biographies

Dr. Al-Mashat is a Professor and Director of the Center for Political Research and Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science in Cairo University. He received Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1982). He is a member of the Supreme Council of Culture and State Council. He served as Scholarships Administrator, the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program and the Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program which are carried out by the World Bank in Washington D.C., U.S.A. He has also been an active member of the reviewing committee of the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program, which is administered by the Institute of International Education. (up to 2005). He was also appointed term as the cultural and educational counselor and director at Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau at the Embassy of Egypt, Washington, DC. Author of numerous books and articles, Dr. Al-Mashat writes regularly in Egyptian papers and participates occasionally in TV talk shows.

Akilagpa Sawyerr, former Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law of the University of Ghana, is Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), an international non-governmental membership organization. Professor Sawyerr obtained the degree of Doctor of the Science of Jurisprudence (JSD) at the University of California (Berkeley), after studying law at the Universities of Durham and London, and has since held teaching and research appointments at universities and research institutes in Africa, Europe, US and the Far East. Professor Sawyerr is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Ghana Research and Advocacy Program, and member of the Board of Trustees, Institute for Democratic Governance. He serves on the governing bodies of several international agencies, including International Association of Universities, International Association of University Presidents, Third World Network-Africa Region, and International Advisory Network of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE). Professor Sawyerr's current research interests cover globalization, higher education, human development, and international negotiations.