U of A and Kazakhstan celebrate growing partnership
From left, Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Mağzhan Ilyassov, Lakshmi Garimella, University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella, Ambassadors Ball Committee co-chair Tina Waddington, and committee chair Hugh Hallman, honorary consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan, pose for a photo during the Ambassadors Ball in Phoenix, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. The gala celebrated relationships between Arizona and Kazakhstan, including a partnership with the U of A that’s grown from a transnational dual-degree program into a collaboration including research and workforce development.
Alonso Parra / Lamp Left Media
When University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella took the podium as keynote speaker at the Diplomatic Corps of Arizona's 35th Annual Ambassadors Ball, he described a partnership that has grown from a transnational dual-degree program into a collaboration spanning research, workforce development, and student mobility.
The gathering, themed "A Knight in Kazakhstan," welcomed Mağzhan Ilyassov, Kazakhstan ambassador to the United States; Nazira Nurbayeva, consul general of the Kazakhstan consulate in San Francisco; Hugh Hallman, honorary consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan; and Steve Chuchri, chairman of the Diplomatic Corps of Arizona and honorary consul of Estonia. Among some 500 attendees were state agency directors, elected leaders and legislators, mayors, members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of the Consular Corps, and Arizona business and utility leaders.
The U of A partnership with Kozybayev University in Petropavl, Kazakhstan, launched as a microcampus in fall 2022. Today at Kozybayev, nearly 400 students are now enrolled across three programs: information science, inclusive education, and applied biotechnology, with a business administration program launching this fall. This spring will see the graduation of the inaugural cohort of those dual-degree students.
Recently, research collaborations have also become an element of the partnership. The U of A’s five areas of strategic research focus align with national priorities in Kazakhstan, and one collaboration has recently drawn international attention. A project led by Kozybayev researchers and U of A chemistry and biochemistry professor Jeffrey Pyun focuses on transforming Kazakhstan's abundant sulfur reserves, largely a byproduct of critical industrial activities, into useful polymeric materials.
The continuing work was cited by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the 2025 Forum of International Strategic Partners as a model for connecting academic work to national economic and environmental goals.
The Diplomatic Corps of Arizona is dedicated to fostering relationships between Arizonans and people around the world, facilitating cultural, educational, and economic connections since 1961.