Chad Ambassador to visit

Chad Ambassador to United States to visit WVU Parkersburg, Mid-Ohio Valley.

CONTACT: Doug Weaver, assistant professor of computer science, 304-424-8330.

(Editor's Note - Ambassador Bechir will be available Nov. 15 for media interviews following the 9:30-10:30 a.m. open forum or between 1:30 and 2 p.m. Call 424-8203 to arrange.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Chad ambassador to the United States will visit West Virginia University at Parkersburg and the Mid-Ohio Valley Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 14-15) thanks to a working relationship he developed with one of the college's faculty members.

Photo of Chad Ambassador Mahamoud Adam Bechir Ambassador Mahamoud Adam Bechir first met Doug Weaver, an assistant professor of computer science and a member of the West Virginia Air National Guard, in 2004 when Weaver helped to set up the first wireless computer network and the first military wired computer network in Chad. The project was part of a United Nation's humanitarian effort to eliminate land mines in the strife-torn country.

"Ambassador Bechir is not only the Chad Ambassador but a world leader in the demining effort as was Princess Diana," Weaver noted. "He also has much expertise in the present Darfur crisis which has been going on for the past two years in Sudan where thousands have died due to political turmoil."

In addition to serving as Chad's ambassador to the U.S., Bechir is also the ambassador to Canada, Argentine and Mexico.

Bechir will arrive in West Virginia Monday morning and and be welcomed in Charleston by state military officials. He will talk with a class of Business/Economics students Monday afternoon on the Parkersburg campus. The ambassador will be a guest of WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage at the annual dinner of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley Monday evening at the Parkersburg Holiday Inn.

On Tuesday, he will participate in an open forum at 9:30 a.m. in Room 1305. The forum is free and open to the public. He will be honored at a luncheon with college representatives and also meet with several WVU Parkersburg classes. A second open forum will be held at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, at the college's Jackson County Center in Ripley followed by a dinner at WVU Parkersburg with invited community leaders.

Additional information about the ambassador's visit is available by contacting the college President's Office.

cd111105

For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
WVU Parkersburg
Executive Director
Institutional Advancement
304-424-8203