The University of Trinidad & Tobago honored our Chairman, Mr. Michael Aboud with a Honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Wednesday November 08th, 2017. Mr. Michael Aboud dedicates this Honorary Doctorate to his staff.
Chairman’s Message to ASSL Staff
Honorary Doctorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation – University of Trinidad & Tobago, 2017
I am truly honored and humbled to have accepted this honorary doctoral degree for Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). At the ceremony, the UTT orator did a splendid summarization of my work and accomplishments.
Let me admit that such achievements could not be an outcome of…… a one-man effort. It is rather the outcome of collective efforts of the people of who have been alongside me during my life’s journey: my family, fellow leaders, directors, executives and especially, the many dedicated men and women of Amalgamated Security Services Limited (ASSL). It is on behalf of these people that I accepted this award. Allow me, therefore, to dedicate it to you, as your dedicated efforts and service must not go unrecognized. Special acknowledgment must also be given to ASSL’s Executive Team and to The University, as the National University of Trinidad and Tobago, for its achievements and significant contributions to education and research.
When I was offered this Honorary Doctorate, I needed to understand why I might be worthy of such honor, then I reflected on my colourful and somewhat unusual journey of successes that bought me here today. I am far from being an academic achiever, however, I am a huge admirer of anyone who takes interest to such an extent that they become expert in their field. By this honour, I accept recognition of achieving expertise in the respective fields of the award.
As Chairman, Advisor and Director of many companies regionally, and Chief Executive Officer of Amalgamated Security, I have always maintained focus and supported higher education and instilled the need for it by creating an environment for practical application of knowledge; I recognized the value of academic knowledge as a sound investment towards business improvement and self-actualization and, also established, participated and invested in several mentorship, recognition and award programs focused on self-improvement. I can tell you that we are a stronger, more educated and a community fixated set of organizations because of that drive towards academic achievement which has allowed us to exceed academic requirements within the various industries in which we operate, and in many instances, set higher benchmarks for the industry.
I am truly humbled to be recognized for my contribution to sound Entrepreneurship and Innovation. I am blessed and thankful for the opportunity to use my talent in a way that has benefited so many.
In summation, a good education is a foundation for guaranteeing a successful outcome and its value cannot be overstated; that, and hard work with sacrifices always pay off. A proper education is the tool to escape poverty, to obtain gainful employment, create wealth, raise the standard of living, and most of all, to empower the next generation to live better lives. The surest way to empower an individual is to educate him.
As I conclude my message I must say that I was honoured to have shared the stage with the 2017 graduates of UTT. I sincerely appreciate the conferring of this Honorary Doctorate degree upon me and will forever carry it with pride and humility and allow it to serve as a testament to the value of contributing to one’s community. And finally, I would like to say that our footprints on the sands of time which we leave behind as part of our legacy are often made with impressions of varying intensities and this one will surely last a lifetime.
Thank youMichael AboudChairman
Published Links:
- UTT Website – https://u.tt/index.php?articles=1&article_key=6232&wk=1
- http://mundinews.com/qa-with-michael-aboud/
- http://www.guardian.co.tt/business-guardian/2017-11-12/qa-michael-aboud
- Video of Graduation
