Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão Receives Honorary Doctorate Degree from Mackenzie Presbyterian University
On August 29th, 2025, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão received an honorary doctorate from Mackenzie Presbyterian University (UPM) in Brazil at the auditorium of the Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology of the National University of Timor Lorosa'e (UNTL). 
The award was presented by the rector of UPM, Marco Tullio de Castro Vasconcelos, during a ceremony that also marked the completion of the first Interinstitutional Doctorate in Literature, responsible for training the first Timorese doctoral students to complete their academic degrees in the country. 
In his speech, Xanana Gusmão said: ‘It is a great honor to receive this honorary doctorate from Mackenzie Presbyterian University. This distinction fills me with emotion and gratitude. It is a huge responsibility, because from today onwards, I will be part of the UPM family.’
The Head of Government also addressed the thirteen new PhD graduates who received their certificates of completion for the Interinstitutional and International Doctorate in Arts, developed between UNTL and UPM, congratulating them on this milestone in their lives. ‘The path you have taken to get here enriches your uniqueness as citizens, teachers and educators. But the work you have done does not end with the completion of your doctorate. On the contrary, today will not be remembered as an ordinary date, but rather as the beginning of a new stage in your professional life which, I believe, will contribute in an essential way to research and teaching at UNTL, indispensable pillars for the development of our country,’ said Xanana Gusmão.
In his speech, the rector of UPM, Marco Tullio de Castro Vasconcelos, highlighted the historical significance of the cooperation established with Timor-Leste since 2001, before the restoration of independence: ‘During these years, the Portuguese language has been our bridge; education, our road; and friendship, the beacon that has illuminated every step. We shared classrooms and knowledge, but we also shared silences, listened to stories of courage, and felt up close the strength of a people who knows how to resist and dream.’ 
The rector added that Mackenzie Presbyterian University awarded this degree to the Prime Minister in recognition of his career in literature and the arts, as an exceptional poet with works of poetry published in various books and newspapers.
The Interinstitutional Doctorate Program in Arts, the result of a partnership between UPM and UNTL, with the support of Brazil's Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), is a historic milestone for Timor-Leste, as it has enabled, for the first time, the completion of an academic doctorate entirely within the country, training thirteen Timorese lecturers from UNTL. END
