The announcement was made by the state-run Golden Age.

The award ceremony took place at the Academy of Sciences on the eve of Science Day, observed annually in Turkmenistan on June 12.

According to the official statement, Berdimuhamedov received the professorship for his

“outstanding contributions to scientific-production, innovation-industrial, socio-economic, and scientific-technical transformations,”

as well as for promoting modern science and expanding international cooperation.

The academy also said his election as an academician reflected his role in socio-economic development, the modernization of healthcare, support for science and education, the introduction of new technologies into the economy, and raising Turkmenistan’s international standing.

The 44-year-old president has now followed a path similar to that of his father, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the country’s former president, who is widely known by the title Arkadag, or “Protector.” Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov holds titles including Doctor of Medical Sciences, Doctor of Economics, professor, and academician of the Academy of Sciences.

The elder Berdimuhamedov has authored more than 60 books covering topics ranging from medicine and philosophy to culture, spirituality, Akhal-Teke horses, Alabai dogs, and sports. Serdar Berdimuhamedov has so far published four books.

President Berdimuhamedov graduated in 2001 from the Turkmen Agricultural University named after Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s first president, with a degree in engineering technology. Between 2008 and 2011, he served as counselor-envoy at Turkmenistan’s embassy in Russia while studying international relations at the Diplomatic Academy of Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

In August 2014, he defended his PhD-equivalent dissertation at the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, and in July 2015 received a Doctor of Technical Sciences degree.