In 1992 and 1993 in Cambodia, Drs. Bonshek and Fergusson were founding co-rectors of Maharishi Vedic University, which changed its name to Chea Sim University of Kamcheymear due to changes in Cambodian government regulations related to foreign involvement in education.

MUM alumni receive Cambodia's highest civilian honor
by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, The Review
21 April 2016

Maharishi University of Management (MUM) PhD graduates Lee Fergusson and Anna Bonshek were recently awarded Cambodia's highest civilian honor by royal decree of the King of Cambodia in the King's 2016 honors list, based on the recommendation of the president of the National Assembly of Cambodia.

Called the "Royal Order of Sahametrei," the honor recognizes their distinguished services to the King and people of Cambodia in establishing Maharishi Vedic University (MVU) in the 1990s with the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport of the Royal Government of Cambodia.

The government will be sending a delegate to present the award and medal during the first Regional Conference on Maharishi Vedic Science to be held in Australia at the end of this month.

MVU's 4,000 graduates now occupy senior roles in government, education, military, customs, and business, Dr. Fergusson said. "For example, one is an advisor to Samdech Heng Samrin, president of the National Assembly, and another established and is chairman of a network of four universities called the University of Management and Economics, with 15,000 students."

In 1992 and 1993, Drs. Bonshek and Fergusson were founding co-rectors of Maharishi Vedic University (Sakal Vichealay Vedic Maharishi in Khmer) under Maharishi's guidance and have been affiliated with MVU since then.

They also wrote a book, published in 2013, titled Maharishi Vedic University in Cambodia: Education Reconstruction and Social Renewal. And they've published studies on the outcomes, with the latest paper on economic and social well-being in Cambodia to be published in the Journal of Indian Education later this year.

In 2008 MVU changed its name to Chea Sim University of Kamcheymear due to changes in government regulations related to foreign involvement in education.

"While the university has expanded, with the government since putting in $20 million, it is no longer able to offer Consciousness-Based Education, but the Transcendental Meditation technique is still taught there, and its rector is an MVU graduate and Sidha," Dr. Fergusson said.

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