ULAN BATOR, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh conferred Thursday the Order of Genghis Khan, the country's highest state award, to American author Jack Weatherford for his contribution to the studies of Genghis Khan.
Weatherford, who is well known for his book released in 2004, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, became the first foreigner who received this order. He once served as a professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota.
In addition, the president conferred the Order of Genghis Khan to Dechingungaa Dorjgotov, academician and leading researcher at the Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, who has laid the foundation of the field of soil science in Mongolia on a scientific basis and made a great contribution to the development of the field.
In previous years, the order was presented to only one person, but this year it was given to two people for the first time.
On the National Pride Day every year, the Order of Genghis Khan is presented to people who have made great contributions to strengthening national unity, deeply studying the history and culture of Mongolia, and familiarizing other countries with Mongolian culture. ■
