February 2014 Events Surrounding Rwanda President Kagame’s Visit

Article from the June 2014 Edition of Global Mental Health Newsletter written by Bill Froming, Ph.D., Provost

Palo Alto University (PAU) organized a series of events in February 2014 for the President of Rwanda, His Excellency Paul Kagame. The goal was to provide forums where President Kagame could interface with academic and business leaders in California. On Wednesday, February 12, he gave a talk at the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles.

The event was organized by UCLA’s Center for Global Health and its co-director, Dr. Thomas Coates. Thursday morning President Kagame met with UCSF’s leaders in Global Health in San Francisco and in the afternoon a reception with investors was hosted by Tom and Nancy Riley. Mr. Riley is the former Ambassador from the U.S. to Morocco. Friday morning February 14 President Kagame visited UC Berkeley at an event hosted the UCB Chancellor Nicholas Dirks. UC faculty presented their research on topics that could be beneficial to Rwanda as it rebuilds after the genocide. Drs. Bill Froming and Karen Froming were present and facilitated these meetings. Friday afternoon Soren Gordhamer at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco interviewed President Kagame. The day ended with a dinner hosted by PAU. The speakers included Dr. Stephen Smith, the Executive Director of the Shoah Foundation, Bill Froming, PAU Provost, President Kagame, and the women’s drumming group from Rwanda, Ingoma Nshya. The banquet was attended by members of the PAU Board, faculty, administration, staff, alumni, and students. Hosting a sitting head of state was a first for PAU. Much of the credit for organizing the events goes to Dr. Karen Froming and the Rwandan Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Mathilde Mukantabana.