By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK Inter-country tertiary academic history will be made this morning when the Namibia United States Alumni Association (NU-SAA) will formally meet for the first time since its formation in September last year. “NUSAA was formed last year to bring together alumni of United States government-sponsored exchange pro-grammes and alumni of Ame-rican universities as a brain trust to contribute ideas for Namibia’s development. It was also established to promote academic ties between Namibia and the United States of America. Presently, the association has 120 members,” reads a press release by Stanley Harsha of the American Cultural Centre, responsible for this morning’s meeting in the capital. According to the statement, NUSAA will hold its first conference at the Polytechnic of Namibia Library on February 17, on the theme: “The Role of NUSAA in National Development”. “The conference will deal with such topics as democracy, economic growth, good governance, HIV/AIDS and education. Participants will include prominent Namibian alumni of American universities as well as Namibians and Americans, who have participated in US Government sponsored academic and professional exchanges in the past.” The organisation is chaired by Dr Tangeni Iiyambo, senior lecturer at the University of Namibia in the faculty of Education, who finished his PhD in education in the US at the Michigan State University. The vice chair is Professor Diane Ashton, an American Fulbright professor from Sonoma State University in California.