Honorary Degree Recipients

Edward Mazria – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Architecture 2030

Edward Mazria is an internationally recognized architect, energy expert, educator and author with a distinguished and successful career spanning 45 years. He is the Founder and CEO of Architecture 2030, a non-profit, non-partisan, solution-oriented organization.

His comprehensive knowledge of design, planning, climate change and alternative energy sources are focused on a dramatic reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions generated by the Building Sector, as well as building and regional adaptation strategies for projected climactic and environmental changes. 

Most recently, Mr. Mazria has reshaped the national and international dialogue on energy and climate change to incorporate building design and the ‘Building Sector’. He lectures extensively and meets personally with key decision makers and stakeholders at the local, regional, national and international levels.

Mr. Mazria has taught architecture at the University of New Mexico, University of Oregon, UCLA, and the University of Colorado-Denver. He is the author of numerous publications including the “bible” of solar energy, The Passive Solar Energy Book, and the influential Metropolis Magazine “Architects Pollute”, October 2003 issue. 

His numerous awards include:  AIA Design Awards, Commercial Building Awards from the Department of Energy, “Pioneer Award” from the American Solar Energy Society, Outstanding Planning Award from the American Planning Association, Equinox Award from Earth Alert, National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, the inaugural Hanley Award from the Hanley Foundation, Mumford Award from Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, and the 2011 Purpose Prize from Civic Ventures.

He is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Laurel G. Bellows

Bellows, founder of The Bellows Law Group, P.C., is an experienced business lawyer and mediator counseling senior executives and corporations, in the U.S. and internationally, on employment matters, severance agreements, incentive compensation, and workplace disputes. 

The firm offers transactional, counseling and litigation services to small businesses and large corporations.  

Bellows is president-elect of the American Bar Association and will begin her term as president in August 2012.  She has served as chair of the ABA’s policymaking House of Delegates and as chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession. 

Bellows was the second female president of the Chicago Bar Association where she founded the Women’s Alliance.  She is licensed to practice in Illinois, Florida and California.

Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand

Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol currently serves as Ambassador and Alternative Representative of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ). In December 2011, following a distinguished career at the Office of Attorney-General, Her Royal Highness was elected Chairperson of the CCPCJ at its 21st session (2011 – 2012).

As a seasoned prosecutor-cum-diplomat, Her Royal Highness brings a wealth of practitioner’s experience to the policy-making process of the Commission, particularly in strengthening standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice as well as in promoting integrated responses to transnational organized crime in all of its manifestations.

Since joining the Office of the Attorney- General in 2006 until her recent appointment as Ambassador, Her Royal Highness served at various offices including the Executive Director’s Offices of Criminal and Narcotics Litigation, the Offices of Public Prosecution in Udon Thani, Pattaya, and Nong Bua Lam Phu provinces and the Office of the Legal Aid and Protection where she served as the Provincial Public Prosecutor attached to the Office of the Attorney-General.

Her Royal Highness is not only well-known for her acumen in prosecuting criminal cases, but she is also recognized for her engagement in various international conferences related to law and criminology.

From 2005 to 2006, following a graduate study in the United States, Her Royal Highness served as First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in New York, covering various issues of the Third and Sixth Committees of the General Assembly.

She also played a key role in negotiating and reaching consensus on Thailand- sponsored GA resolution 60/177 “Follow-up to the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”. Her Royal Highness’s involvement in the work of the 60th General Assembly accentuated her genuine interest in the nexus between legal affairs and multilateral diplomacy.

Additionally, Her Royal Highness has a keen personal interest in promoting women’s rights, especially in the context of the criminal justice system. In 2006, Her Royal Highness initiated the Kamlangjai Project (Inspire) with the aim to improve the quality of lives of women prisoners in Thailand.

In 2008, Her Royal Highness launched another project called “Enhancing Lives of Female Inmates” or ELFI to promote Thailand’s proposal for international rules on women prisoners. This resulted in the adoption of the “United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders” or the “Bangkok Rules” by the General Assembly at its 65th session in 2010.

Also, since 2008, Her Royal Highness has served as UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador for Thailand to raise awareness on violence against women. In April 2009, the UNODC awarded Her Royal Highness with its Medal of Recognition for her continued advocacy work on these issues.

Her Royal Highness’s prime academic interest is in the field of criminal law. Her Ph.D. dissertation focused on the protection of the right of the accused, drawing from comparative analysis between different criminal justice systems. Her Royal Highness received Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D.) Degree from Cornell University in May 2005, after earning her Master of Laws (LL.M.) Degree from Cornell Law School in May 2002.

Her Royal Highness holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Degree from Thammasat University in Bangkok where she graduated in January 2000. In addition to her legal studies, Her Royal Highness also received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in International Relations from Sukhothai Thammathirat University in 2000.

Cyrus Chung Ying Tang

Cyrus Tang was born in China in 1930 and moved to the United States in 1950. A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Tang founded or acquired over 100 companies in a wide variety of industries ranging from manufacturing to life sciences to financial services. 

Today the “Tang Group” is still a privately held enterprise with operations in the North America, South America, and Asia. 

While Mr. Tang has been a successful businessman, he has always been mindful of how to best use his resources to benefit society in areas where the needs are greatest. To that end, he established the Tang Foundations in 1995. 

He determined early on that knowledge, health care, and public involvement are all essential to community progress. He recognizes that supporting others can inspire them to give back to their communities, and as a result, his programs focus on projects that have the potential to grow and expand beyond the Foundations’ support. 

The Tang Foundations support education and medical research in his native and adopted home countries; China and the United States. The Tang Foundations are comprised of three foundations:

• Cyrus Tang Foundation – focusing on education, poverty alleviation, and healthcare in China

• Cyrus Chung Ying Tang Foundation – focusing on education in the United States; this foundation also supports programs that foster cross-cultural understanding between the United States and China

• Tang Foundation for the Research of Traditional Chinese Medicine – focusing on medical research in the USA and China

Cyrus Tang currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada where he continues to be active in the company as well as the Tang Foundations. 

"I believe success in life is not based on assets gained or knowledge acquired, but rather it is how we make use of what we have to contribute to society."

— Cyrus Tang