The Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, DaasebreProf. (Emeritus) Oti Boateng, a renowned authority in Statistics and a Commissioner of the United Nations, has been formally decorated as a 21st Century Role Model by the State University of New York at a high-profile event in Geneseo, New York, on 14th May, 2016 with an honourary degree of Doctor of Laws.

The prestigious honour by the State University of New York, one of the exceptional moments in the life of the largest University System in the United States of America, was in recognition of the exploits of Daasebre Prof. (Emeritus) OtiBoateng in global scholarship, international civil service and leadership.

The New York State University gave a boost to the Root-based model being pioneered by Daasebre by recognizing the model asa ground-breaking initiative by the honouree to promote indigenous institutions in sustainable development.

The Root-based model pioneered by Daasebre, which was subsequently adopted and developed as Root-Based Economic Development (r-BED) Model as a joint intellectual enterprise with Nyaaba-AweebaAzongo, a development expert, is an integrated development model aimed at harnessing the potential of indigenous institutions of governance for sustainable community economic development.

In the accompanying citation, the University described Daasebre as a 21st century leader for projecting an iconic brand of personality that bridges modernity and tradition in global excellence.
Daasebre’s accomplishments as a teacher and scholar with a unique ability to apply knowledge to national and international policy and his long-standing role and impact as a member of the International Civil Service Commission were also cited as deserving tributes of a true legend.

In his acceptance remarks, Daasebre thanked the Board of Trustees of State University of New York and the entire University for the distinguished honour and recounted his long association with New York State spanning a period of exactly half-a-century, first through frequent visits from his then workplace at Boston Edison Company in 1966 to New York City and then a continuous working relations during the past thirty three years with the United Nations which has its Headquarters in New York.

He also used the occasion to appeal for greater collaboration between the New York State University and the OtiBoateng-Azongo Development Institute (OB-ADI), a think-tank institution established in Ghana to lead global advocacy as well as research into promoting the development and adoption of the r-BED model for Africa and regions of growing economies to promote sustainable community economic development.