Honoris Causa

Awarded: year 1978
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Born in Sarajevo in 1906 and died in Zurich in 1998, Dr. Prelog earned an undergraduate degree and PhD in Chemistry from Prague University. He served as Director of the Organic Chemistry Institute at Zagreb Technological University and was a Professor in the Higher Technical School. He was also the President of the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory. He won a Nobel Prize for his work on molecules along with the Anglo-Australian Chemist, John Comforth. He is a PhD honoris causa for Zagreb University and twenty other universities around the world. He was also an honorary member of the Zagreb Academy of Science and Art and fourteen other scientific societies. He received eighteen important distinctions. Along with other Nobel Prize winners, he signed a protest against the aggression suffered by Croatia.

Awarded: year 1981
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Dr. Lora-Tamayo was born in Jerez de la Frontera in 1904 and died in Madrid in 2002. He served as Minister of Education (1962-1968) during difficult times in Spain, especially for universities. He was a man of science, laboratories and research. He was a member of various academies and the multidisciplinary Royal Academy of Doctors. He stood out in the Organic Chemistry field and as a pioneer at the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), breaking many political and politicised moulds. He was responsible for creating academic departments within university schools and the role of Lecturers as an intermediate function between Academic Assistants and Associate and Full Professors. He also created scholarships for research. With his important Law on Technical Educational Programmes, he restructured these programmes to include undergraduate degrees in Architecture, Engineering, Building Engineers and Experts within the university realm, without fractures. In 1961 he was also made PhD honoris causa for the University of Paris.

Awarded: year 1981
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Born in Stainforth (Yorkshire) in 1920 and died in England in 2002, Dr. Porter earned an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Leeds. In 1945 he joined Cambridge University where, along with R. G. W. Norrish, he began his studies on free radicals. He also served as Adjunct Director of the British Rayon Research Association, as Professor of Chemistry, Director of the Royal Institution and Chancellor of Leicester University. In 1967, Dr. Porter, M. Eigen and R. G. W. Norrish were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on extremely fast reactions induced by energy pulses (flash photolysis). He also served as President of the Royal Society and the British Association and was the Founding President of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS). His other distinctions include the Davy, Rumford, Ellison-Cliffe and Copley medals.

Awarded: year 1985
Proposed by: IQS-URL

He was born in 1918 and earned his undergraduate degree in Chemical Sciences. Later forced to immigrate to Switzerland, he became a member of the Laboratorium für Organische Chemie a l’Eidgeenössische Technische Hochscule (ETH) in Zurich were he worked alongside two Nobel Prize winners, Leopold Ruzicka and Vladimir Prelog, amongst the nine Nobels included amongst ETH’s faculty. His contribution to the study of natural products, our knowledge of steroid chemistry and photochemistry was significant to the development of Chemistry. He published a total of 267 articles throughout his life.

Awarded: year 1985
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Dr. Margalef was born in Barcelona in 1919 and died in the same city in 2004. He earned his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences in 1949, eventually becoming an eminent ecologist,  limnologist, oceanographer and planktologist and possibly the most renowned Catalan scientist and naturalist. He made important contributions to the field of ecology without obviating the social environment. In 1967 he became the first Professor of Ecology in Spain at the Universitat de Barcelona. Some of his books reflect his intense efforts to discover how nature works in terms of the most exact sciences, though without losing sight of nature’s limitless and difficult-to-explain creative and destructive forces, the mechanisms behind evolution. He was distinguished with numerous awards and distinctions around the world.

Awarded: year 1991
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Born in 1931, he earned a PhD in Chemistry at the Eidgeenössische Technische Hochscule (ETH) in Zürich, later becoming a professor at the Organic Chemistry Laboratory. He also served as Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Geneva and was a member and the Director of the Max Plank Institut für Strahlenchemie. His research focused on photochemistry and photobiology as well as organo-metallic compounds and the photochemistry of bio-mimetic processes. He developed diverse techniques and procedures to study the kinetics of extremely fast energy transferrals (in femtoseconds), something which is the norm today. Amongst other distinctions, he was awarded the ETH Silver Medal, the Ruzicka Award, the Swiss Chemical Society Award and the European Society for Photobiology Award.

Awarded: year 1992
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Born in 1934 in Barcelona. He holds an undergraduate degree and PhD in Pharmaceuticals. He served as Rector at the Universidad de Granada, Professor of Biochemistry at the same university and at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He also served as Minister of Education and Science, the Co-Founder and Director of the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre, a Member of the Spanish and European Parliaments and Director General of UNESCO. He has published in and is a member of numerous scientific and research journals. He is also an essayist, a poet and the President of the Fundación Ramón Areces Scientific Council, the Fundación por una Cultura de Paz and the telecommunications company, FirstMark.

Awarded: April, 24th 1998
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport-URL

Born in Ribes de Freser in 1921 and died in Barcelona in 2010, Dr. Triadú was a writer and teacher who earned an undergraduate degree in Classic Languages. He participated actively in training the first professors of Catalan after the Spanish Civil War and was a reference for the intellectual nationalist resistance. He worked for the journals, Ariel, Pont Blau, Vida Nova and Serra d’Or, and the newspaper, Avui. He also served as Technical Secretary for the political and cultural organization, Òmnium Cultural, where he defined various of the institution’s guidelines; as Director of the Catholic Influence Centre (CIC) and the Thau School. He was also the founder of the Catalan Teaching Council. He authored numerous texts and obtained various distinctions for his work.

Awarded: April, 24th 1998
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Born in Beilen (Holland) in 1928, he earned a Master in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Technical Sciences from the University of Delft. Along with Professor H. Kramer, the “father” of Chemical Engineering in the Netherlands, they co-authored the first textbook on chemical reactors. Westerterp’s thesis introduced the chemicals method to determine the interfacial area (contact angle) of a disperse gas within a liquid. He also served as Director General of the company, N. V. Petrochemie Aku-Amoco, and Director of the Chemical Unit at Enka-Glanzstoff. In addition, he was the President of the Scientific and Organising Committee for the First World Congress of Chemical Engineering and a Member and Scientific President of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE). The scientific merit of his work is reflected in the twenty-five doctoral theses he directed and his more than three-hundred scientific publications. He received numerous awards and distinctions throughout his life.

Awarded: June, 2th 2000
Proposed by: La Salle Engineering and Architecture-URL

Born in Pennsylvania in 1948, Dr. Curley studied Political Science at La Salle University in Philadelphia (US). He worked at the Times-Union (Gannett company) newspaper in Rochester (New York) as editor of the night-desk. He would eventually go on to become Information Director for Gannett and coordinate the group’s research projects. He would then be named Editor of the Norwich Bulletin (Connecticut) and Editor of Courier News in  Bridgewater (New Jersey). Curley would eventually become President and Editor of USA Today after leading the project to create this newspaper with nation-wide distribution in the US. Thanks to his work at USA Today, the newspaper sells more than 2,300,000 copies per day and is the most widely-distributed newspaper in the United States.
      

Awarded: April, 24th 2001
Proposed by: Faculty of Philosophy-URL

Paul Ricoeur was born in Valencia (Delfinat) in 1913 and died in Châtenay-Malabry in 2005. He was influenced by Van des de Roland Dalbiez, K. Jaspers, and including G. Marcel, J. Nabert and E. Mounier. His earliest work focused on conflict and suffering, representing an approach to the realm of problems such as alienation and personal and collective culpability. Ricoeur examined these topics from a new perspective, one in which existence isn’t seen as an end or a contingency, rather, as an opening and as affirmation. Ricoeur became a teacher and required reference in the field. For more than fifty years he was present in the leading debates on the relation between the sciences and philosophy.

Awarded: April, 12th 2002
Proposed by: IQS School of Management -URL

Dr. Allen was born in Newark (New Jersey) in 1931. He obtained a BS in Physics from Upsala College, an SM in Electrical Engineering and Management and a PhD in Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as Director of Research for MIT’s Management programme throughout the 1990s, as Director and Co-Director of the International Center for Research on the Management of Technology, Vice-Dean of Sloan School of Management (MIT), Co-Director of the Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry and Co-Director of the Lean Aerospace Initiative. He has also been named PhD honoris causa by the State University of Gent (Belgium), Chalmers University of Technology and Linköping University, the latter two in Sweden.

Awarded: May, 23th 2002
Proposed by: URL Rector’s Office simultaneously with Alicante, Barcelona, Autónoma de Barcelona, Gerona, Islas Baleares, Jaime I, Lleida, Oberta de Catalunya, Politécnica de Catalunya, Politécnica de Valencia, Pompeu Fabra, Rovira i Virgili, Valencia and Vic universities

He was born in Barcelona in 1909 and died in Sant Cugat del Vallès in 2003. He earned undergraduate degrees in History, Law, Philosophy and Theology. His work included more than 200 titles translated into several languages. His research focused on Ramon Llull and Lullianism in Europe, Humanism and the Renaissance, and Jesuit culture in the 18th century, amongst other topics. His distinctions included the Government of Catalonia’s Medalla d’Or (gold medal), the Honorary Award for Catalan Humanities and the Medal of Honour (Gold Category) from the Catalan Parliament. He was also named an Honorary Member of the Association of Catalan Language Writers.

Awarded: September, 13th 2002
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Dr. Guiochon attended the École Polytechnique where he completed his PhD. His thesis versed on the kinetics of NH4NO3 or ammonium nitrate’s technical decomposition. Before completing his studies, he suffered poliomyelitis, leaving him wheelchair bound. He needed assistance to complete his doctoral thesis as he was unable to walk. His strength and spirit to overcome obstacles stood out. Upon completing his thesis, he was named Director of the Gay-Lussac Laboratory where he created a team, including numerous researchers from Spain. He was also decisive in the creation of the Chromatography Group in Spain. To examine the decomposition of ammonium nitrate, he had to study decomposition gases. That is how he came to gas chromatography, a technique which first appeared in 1952.

Awarded: June, 3rd 2003
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport-URL

Born in Turin (Italy) in 1936, Lenarduzzi is a Commercial Engineer and holds an undergraduate degree in Political and Social Sciences. He has also served as Director of the Studies Service within the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional Policy and Director of the Human Resource, Education, Training and Youth Task Force. In addition, he is co-responsible for the creation of the EC’s new Directorate General for Education and Culture. He has been named PhD honoris causa by numerous European universities and has received the French Legion of Honour.

Awarded: June, 3rd 2003
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport-URL

Dr. Minuchin was born in Argentina in 1921. He holds an undergraduate degree in Medicine and received a certificate in Psychoanalysis from William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology (New York). He served as Psychiatric Director for Youth Aliyah, an organisation treating at-risk children in Israel. In Philadelphia, he served as Director of the Child Guidance Clinic, as Head of Psychiatry at the children’s hospital there and Director of the Family Therapy Training Center. He also taught as a Professor of Child Psychiatry and Paediatrics and the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical School. Minuchin is also the author of several books. He has received numerous distinctions, including the ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders) award and the Millennium Award from Hincks-Dellcrest Institute (Canada) in 2000, amongst others.

Awarded: January, 15th 2004
Proposed by: La Salle Engineering and Architecture-URL

Born in San José, Costa Rica, in 1942, Dr. Rodríguez Echeverría completed the international novitiate in Bordighera (Italy) and then Religious Studies at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain). He served as Professor and Director of the Instituto Indígena Santiago and the Escolasticado y Noviciado in Guatemala, as Vice President of RELAL (Lasallian Region of Latin America), as Assistant Director for Central America in the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Vice President of CLAR (Latin American Confederation of Religious); General Vicar, President, and Superior General of the Brothers of Christian Schools and as a member of the Synod of Bishops. He holds a PhD honoris causa from La Salle University of Philadelphia, Universidad La Salle de Costa Rica, and in Pedagogy from Manhattan College (New York).

Awarded: February, 6th 2004
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

He was born in Barcelona in 1930 and holds an undergraduate degree in Medicine from Universitat de Barcelona. This politician and leader of the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) party from 1974 to 2003 served as President of the Government of Catalonia from 1980 to 2003. As President, he gave special importance to Catalonia’s international projection and competitiveness both in economic terms as well as in the cultural and political spheres. He also strove to reinforce an entrepreneurial mentality in Catalonia and the creation of a favourable social climate. He prioritised education, in general, but gave special emphasis to professional and university training. He also dedicated a lot of work to the issue of immigration and the existence of a single community in Catalonia. His political priorities included healthcare, education, housing and caring for senior citizens and people with disabilities. He has been distinguished with numerous diplomas, medals, distinctions and titles.

Awarded: June, 17th 2005
Proposed by: Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations-URL

Dr. Kapuscinski was born in Belarus in 1932 y died in Varsovia in 2007. He is considered to have been one of the best reporters in the world and the model of an independent journalist. He served as foreign correspondent for the Polish Press news agency in Africa, Asia and Latin America and collaborated with Time, The New York Times and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He served as member of numerous editorial councils, while combining his journalistic work with literary activities. He published nearly twenty books, some of which were translated into more than thirty languages. In addition to being named PhD honoris causa by the University of Silesia in 1997, other distinctions include awards for his literary creations, including the Alfred Jurzykowski, Hansischer Goethe and Imegna awards as well as the Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities.

Awarded: December, 16th 2005
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Dr. Valentí Fuster (Barcelona, 1943) is one of the most prestigious cardiologists in the world today.  He has lived and worked in the United States for more than twenty years, currently in charge of the Cardiology Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York as well as presiding over the World Heart Federation. He has published more than four-hundred articles on cardiovascular ailments.

Awarded: February, 24th 2006
Proposed by: Faculty of Philosophy-URL

He was born in Pavia in 1931 and began studying at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He would later further his studies at the Università degli Studi di Parma, where he eventually became Professor of the History of Philosophy. He also served as Professor at Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, and founded and Directed the Centro di Recerche di Metafisica, a space for research and education on Platonism. Included amongst his work are titles such as: The History of Philosophic and Scientific Thought, Introduction to Aristotle, Ancient Wisdom, For a New Interpretation of Plato, Guide to Aristotle’s “Metaphysics”, Plato’s Search for Secret Wisdom and The Cultural and Spiritual Roots of Europe.

Awarded: March, 2nd 2007
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

Dr. Fornesa i Ribó was born in 1931 and dying in Barcelona in 2014. He was an attorney and a business manager. In 1948 he earned his degree in Law at the Universitat de Barcelona and in Business Administration from the Escola Superior de Comerç de Barcelona. He served as Public Prosecutor from 1957 to 1975. In 1977 he was named the Secretary General and Senior Legal Representative of la Caixa d'Estalvis i Mont de Pietat de Barcelona (“la Caixa” bank) and, in 1979 was elected Executive President of Societat General d'Aigües de Barcelona, a post he held until 2006.

In 1990 he was also named Executive Deputy General Director of  “la Caixa” and President in 2003, a post he abandoned in 2008 to assume the Presidency of Criteria Caixa Corp. Between 2003 and 2005 he was also President of the real estate firm, Immobiliària Colonial. He was also President of “la Caixa” Foundation and the Catalan Federation of Savings Banks until June 2007. He was President of the URL Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2004, member of the Board from 2001 to 2013 and member of the URL Committee of Honour from 2013. He was also a Member of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences and the Círculo de Economía association. He has received numerous distinctions, including the Gold Medal from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Gold Medal from the Ordre National du Mérite (France) and the Saint George’s Cross (Government of Catalonia). He was also a Member of the Board of Trustees of various cultural organisations, including Fundación Carolina, Fundació MACBA and Fundación Albéniz.

Awarded: March, 2nd 2007
Proposed by: ESADE Faculty of Law-URL

Was born in Madrid in 1934. Garrigues Walker is President of the Garrigues, Abogados y Asesores Tributarios law firm, the José Ortega y Gasset Foundation and several other organisations. He is the Honorary President in Spain for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He was the first PhD honoris causa for the Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociales in Buenos Aires (Argentina), and a PhD honoris causa for Universidad Europea de Madrid. He is a member of the founding committee for Transparency International (TI) in Madrid and the Spanish National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). He is a part of the Spanish group within the Trilateral Commission and co-author of the book, International Migration Challenges in a New Era, written with Doris M. Meissner, Robert D. Hormats and Shijuro Ogata.

Awarded: September, 19th 2007
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

Dr. March is an expert in Business Administration and renowned for his research on organisations and decision-making processes within these firms. His thought combines theories from psychology and human resource management. He has participated in numerous studies on organisational theory and is also known for his initial focus on organisational behaviour. In more recent work, he has centred on governance within firms. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and a Member of the US National Academy of Science. He has received other PhD honoris causa from numerous European and North American universities.

Awarded: June, 25th 2008
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

Born in Montreal in 1939, Dr. Mintzberg is an internationally renowned scholar and author of numerous publications dedicated to business and management. He is currently Professor of Management at McGill University in Canada where he has taught since 1968 after obtaining his PhD from the Sloan School of Management at  MIT. Dr. Mintzberg writes profusely on business management and strategy subjects, with more than one hundred and forty articles and thirteen books. He has been awarded the McKinsey Prize on two occasions for publishing the best article in the Harvard Business Review. He has also received the Order of Canada and the National Order of Quebec.

Awarded: October, 30th 2008
Proposed by: La Salle Architecture -URL

This renowned Catalan architect and designer was born in Barcelona in 1924 and has worked as a team with Alfons Milà i Sagnier. He studied Architecture at Universitat de Barcelona’s School of Architecture where he later taught classes as Professor and at the Eina School. His work reflects great formal perfection and has significantly influenced younger architects. At the beginning of his career, he dedicated himself primarily to decoration and single-family homes. With time, however, he began to work on large office buildings while continuing to work on important interior design projects. He was named President of the ADI-FAD industrial design association, obtained the Saint George’s Cross from the Government of Catalonia, and was named Member of the Catalan Cultural Patrimony Commission.

Awarded: December, 12th 2008
Proposed by: IQS-URL

Dr. Braslavsky was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 1942, where she trained in and earned her PhD in Chemistry. She later joined the Max Planck Institut für Strahlenchemie where she carried out her entire professional career until retiring. She dedicated her work to photobiology, an area of knowledge between Biology and Physics. She earned her reputation thanks to the development of photothermic methods to study biochemical reactions when induced by light, primarily laser-induced optoacoustic spectroscopy. She has published a total of 201 research and review articles, as well as eleven book chapters and thirty-three other publications. The primary goal of her work has been to train human capital as the best means to contribute to the scientific progress of the countries with which she has maintained a special relation, in particular Spain and others in Latin America.

Awarded: October, 8th 2010
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport-URL

Octavi Fullat i Genís was born in Alforja (Tarragona) in 1928. He studied Philosophy and Humanities at Universitat de Barcelona, earning a PhD in Philosophy with a thesis on Albert Camus’ atheist morality. He was named President of the School Council of Catalonia and represented Catalonia at the Fondation des Régions Européennes pour la Recherche en Education et Formation (FREREF). He was also named to preside over the Evaluation Advisory Council for Educational Reform by the Government of Catalonia’s Education Department. His publications have been translated into French, Portuguese and German. He is also a Founding Member of the Société Francophone de Philosophie de l’Éducation’s Scientific Council.

Awarded: October, 8th 2010
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport-URL

Born in Lisboa in 1944. Dr. Damasio is a Neurologist and Professor of Neuroscience, Neurology and Psychology and the University of Southern California (Los Angeles) where he leads the Brain and Creativity Institute. Previously, he served as Head of Neurology at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He was also awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Science and Technology, amongst other honours and scientific distinctions. He is a Member of the University of Iowa Medical School and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a PhD honoris causa from Copenhagen Business School and the University of Leiden. He is an international reference in the Neuroscience field, and his work has had a great influence on our current understanding of the underlying neural networks affecting memory, language and consciousness. His books have become true bestsellers around the world.

Awarded: November, 27th 2011
Proposed by: IQS School of Management-URL

Born in Mollerussa (Lleida, Catalonia) in 1948, Dr. Brufau holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Universitat de Barcelona. He served as Managing Partner at Arthur Andersen until joining “la Caixa” bank in 1988 as Adjunct Director General, though he would go on to become Director General for the “la Caixa” Group from 1999-2004. In 1997 he was also named President of Grup Gas Natural and was a Member of the Board at Repsol YPF (1996-2004). Currently, he serves as Executive President of Repsol YPF, Vice President of Gas Natural Fenosa and President of the inter-institutional consortium, GLOBALleida. He has also participated in numerous Management Boards, including for Enagas, Albertis, Aigües de Barcelona, Colonial, CaixaHolding and CaixaBank France. He has been the only Spanish member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Committee. He was named President of the Barcelona Círculo de Economía association (2002-2005), and was a Member of the Suez Audit Committee’s Management Board until the end of 2005. He was also President of the Club Espyearl de la Energía (ENERCLUB) from 2008 to 2010.

Awarded: February, 10th 2012
Proposed by: Pere Tarrés Faculty of Social Education and Social Work-URL

Nelsa Curbelo was born in Montevideo, Uruguay (September 1st, 1941) where she studied education at the Instituto María Stagnero de Munar de Montevideo. She would later study Theology at the Université de Tolouse de Montpellier (France). She also holds a degree in Mediation from Universidad Santa Maria Guayaquil and a Master’s in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). She has taught numerous seminars on pedagogy, leadership, communications, human rights, non-violence, conflict resolution, mediation and negotiations. She has presided the NGO, SER PAZ, since 1999, an organisation dedicated to social reinsertion programmes in the Paz neighbourhood in Guayaquil (Ecuador), one of the most conflictive and dangerous areas of the city spanning 49 blocks and ruled over by five different gangs. This expert in human rights, non-violence and conflict resolution is also a columnist for the El universo newspaper, a Professor at the Universidad Campus Santa María de Guayaquil, an online Professor for the Universidad Salesiana Quito Ecuador and a consultant for the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Master’s Programme in Conflict Resolution. She has authored and co-authored numerous books and articles on human rights, non-violence and conflict resolution.

Awarded: July, 2nd 2012
Proposed by: IQS School of Engineering-URL

Charles L. Cooney is Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, since 2002, Faculty Director of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation (MIT), a foundation which administers a 20-million-dollar endowment fund to promote entrepreneurship within the research carried out at MIT. He joined MIT in 1970 as Professor, becoming a Full Professor in 1982. He headed the Chemical Engineering Department from 1995 to 2001. He is also one of the Directors of the companies, Genzyme, Cuno and BioCon India. Amongst the many distinctions he has received are the Gold Medal from the Institute of Biotechnological Studies in London, the Food Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the James Van Lanen Distinguished Award from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Microbial and Biochemical Technology, amongst others. He holds more than 30 patents, has published more than 300 articles and is the co-author of numerous books. His teaching focuses on the Biochemical Engineering field. As Faculty Director of MIT’s Deshpande Center, he has been responsible for the creation of centres like MIT in Singapore and in Russia, with an investment totalling approximately 1.5 billion dollars.
      

Awarded: April, 24th 2013
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Health Sciences-URL

Born in Sevilla in 1943. In 1968 he earned his degree in Medicine at the Universidad de Sevilla and emigrated to New York. He holds a PhD in Medicine and Surgery from Universidad de Bilbao (1975) and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the State University of New York (1977). From 1969 to 1972 he specialized in Psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital and at New York University. In 1995 he was elected CEO of Public Hospitals and Health Systems of New York, in 2005 appointed to the Board of Medicine of the State and, in March 2008, member of the Council for Education in Palliative Care. In Spain, he was member of the Board of Trustees at “la Caixa” (2000-2010) and at present for ADANA Foundation (Helping Children, adolescents and adults with attention deficit disorder). In 2010 the Spanish government awarded him with the Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain. He has published numerous opinion articles and books. He is currently professor of Psychiatry at New York University, where he lives and is engaged in Medicine, Psychiatry and Public Health.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: November, 21th 2013
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

Professor de filosofia de la ciència i director del Centre de Recerca Educativa de la Universitat d'Aarhus (Campus de Copenhagen). Ha impartit, a la Universitat de Copenhagen, cursos d'epistemologia i de filosofia de l’educació (1972-1974) i de filosofia de la ciència (1974-1976). Va ser professor associat de la Universitat de Aalborg (1976-1978), on va impartir cursos de filosofia de la tecnologia i cursos de teoria de I'educació, de la qual en va ser degà. Va ser professor de la Copenhagen Business School (1987-2001) i director del programa de doctorat de l’escola. Va crear el Learning Lab Denmark (2001) en la nova Danish University of Education. El 1991 va ser el principal impulsor de l'European Doctoral Programme Association in Management and Business Administration, de la qual n'ha sigut el president durant 10 anys. Ha estat assessor de la Comunitat Europea en temes d'educació a distància i política científica i també assessor i president de comissions del Govern de Dinamarca i de la Nordic Research Academy. 

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: February, 6th 2015
Proposed by: Pere Tarrés Faculty of Social Education and Social Work-URL

Va néixer a Barcelona l'any 1936. Educada al Col·legi de les Teresianes, als 19 anys va entrar a la Companyia de Santa Teresa de Jesús. Acabat el Noviciat va cursar Filosofia i Lletres a la Universitat de Barcelona. Durant anys es va dedicar a l’ensenyament en diferents escoles de la seva congregació, a València, Madrid i Barcelona. L'any 1982 va ser nomenada directora d'Ediciones STJ, a Barcelona. Crítica de llibres i de pel·lícules, ha escrit més de 60 llibres, la major d'ells sobre temes de pobresa i marginació. Des de 1985, i fruit dels seus viatges a Llatinoamèrica i Àfrica, va sentir una crida especial a viure al costat i del costat dels més pobres i marginats. Des d’aleshores va compaginar el treball editorial amb el lliurament als marginats al barri del Raval de Barcelona (on resideix des de 1995), tasca a què s'hi dedica plenament des que es va jubilar. Coneguda pels mitjans de comunicació a través de la pel·lícula «Camino», basada en el seu llibre "Alexia, historia de amor y dolor de una adolescente" (1987). L’editorial Proteus i la revista Valors li van concedir el Premi Proteus 2011 per la seva trajectòria en la seva tasca de dedicació.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: June, 12th 2015
Proposed by: Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations-URL
Obituary (November, 28th 2022)

Va néixer a Barcelona l'any 1940. Es va llicenciar en Dret a la Universitat de Barcelona. Posteriorment va estudiar al King's College de Londres i es va graduar en Història Moderna a la Universitat de Cambridge. L'any 1968 va ingressar al cos diplomàtic de l'ONU, on ha ocupat els càrrecs de cap dels serveis de documentació del secretariat general a Europa i Amèrica (1987-1992), representant personal del secretari general de les Nacions Unides en els processos de pau de El Salvador i Nicaragua (1989-1991), Guatemala (1990-1992) i Timor Oriental (1999). L'any 1999 va ser nomenat responsable de l'oficina d'assistència al secretari general de l'ONU pels assumptes polítics d'Àsia, Pacífic, Amèrica i Europa. Ha participat en missions diplomàtiques a la regió del Caucas (1992) i Haití (1993) i va ser director d'afers polítics per Àsia Oriental i el Pacífic (1993-1997) i de la divisió Àsia-Pacífic (1998-1999). Més tard, del 2000 al 2002, va liderar la missió especial de l'ONU a Afganistán, i el 2002 va ser nomenat representant de la Unió Europea, any en què també va rebre la Creu de Sant Jordi.

Video of the ceremony
Tribute to Francesc Vendrell at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya (20.11.2023)

Awarded: November, 17th 2015
Proposed by: La Salle School of Electronics and Computer Engineering-URL

Va néixer a Boston (Massachusetts) l’any 1948. Graduat en Física i Enginyeria Elèctrica al MIT l’any 1971 i doctorat en Ciències de la Computació i la Informació a la Universitat de Califòrnia d'Irvine l’any 1982. Inventor del DNS (Domain Name System) d'Internet, juntament amb Jonathan Bruce Postel. Entre 1990 i 1993 es va responsabilitzar del programa de xarxes d'ordinadors a l'Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) del Departament de Defensa del govern dels EUA, va ser president del grup de treball de recerca de l'U.S. Federal Networking Council i del 1994 al 1996 va ser president de l'Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). De 1994 a 1995 fou un dels membres de l'Internet Architecture Board (IAB). Des de 1999 fins a l’actualitat, és director científic i president de la Junta de Nominum, empresa que subministra el software DNS per més de 100 operadors de tot el món. Ha rebut el premi John C. Dvorak Telecommunications Excellence Award "Personal Achievement-Network Engineering" (1997), el “Distinguished Alumnus award” de la Universitat de Califòrnia d'Irvine (2002), l’Internet Award de l’IEEE (2003), el SIGCOMM Award de l’ACM (2005) i l’any 2012 va ser Inclòs per la Internet Society a l'Internet Hall of Fame com a «innovador».

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: April, 8th 2016
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport-URL

Va néixer a Scranton, Pennsilvània (EUA) l’any 1943. És graduat en Relacions Socials (1965) i doctor en Psicologia Social per la Universitat de Harvard (1971). És professor i investigador d'Educació i Psicologia a la mateixa Universitat i a la Harvard Graduate School of Education. Té una llarga llista de premis, honors i distincions, més de 450 articles publicats en revistes científiques i 350 publicacions sobre Psicologia del Desenvolupament, Neuropsicologia, Educació, Estètica, Ètica i Ciències Socials. Gardner ha estat capaç de transformar i definir el concepte d’intel·ligència i de proporcionar un marc científic que dignifica les capacitats artístiques i personals. És autor de la Teoria de les Intel·ligències Múltiples (IM), en què proposa que les persones tenen vuit intel·ligències. Ha sigut capaç d’inspirar els principals moviments de reforma educativa per contribuir a una educació centrada a desenvolupar el talent de les persones, ha proposat metodologies innovadores que inclouen el treball col·laboratiu i per projectes i ha proporcionat models d’avaluació com una alternativa als tests estandarditzats.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: June, 21th 2016
Proposed by: La Salle School of Electronics and Computer Engineering-URL

Enginyer i tecnòleg nord-americà nascut a New Haven, Connecticut (1943). Llicenciat en Matemàtiques i Ciències de la Computació a la Stanford University i màster in Science i doctorat a la University of Califòrnia (UCLA). Actualment vicepresident mundial de Google. Va iniciar la seva carrera professional treballant en projectes aeroespacials i, amb 20 anys, va participar en el motor del propulsor del coet Saturn V que va viatjar a la lluna. Va col·laborar en el desenvolupament d’un conjunt de protocols de comunicacions per la xarxa militar, finançat per l’agència governamental DARPA, que va conduir al disseny del TCP/IP, presentat el 1972 juntament amb Robert Kahn, i que fan possible l’intercanvi de dades entre ordinadors amb independència del tipus de connexió. Entre 1982 i 1986 va dissenyar també el MCI MAIL, primer servei comercial de correu electrònic que es connectaria a Internet. Al 1992 va fundar i va ser el primer president de la Internet Society. Ampliament reconegut com el "pare" d’Internet, forma part del grup de pioners que varen concebre l’arquitectura i el conjunt dels protocols TCP/IP sobre els quals s’ha construït “l’edifici” d’Internet. A l’avantguarda i avançat al seu temps, amb 72 anys Cerf està centrat en l’impuls del que serà el següent pas a la xarxa amb Internet of Things i la creació d’una xarxa interplanetària “InterPlanetNet” per estendre Internet a l’espai exterior.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: April, 24th 2017
Proposed by: Blanquerna Faculty of Health Sciences-URL

Massagué dirigeix en l'actualitat l’Sloan-Kettering Institute. És membre de l’Acadèmia Americana de les Arts i les Ciències, de l’Acadèmia Nacional de Ciències dels Estats Units, de l’Organització Europea de Biologia Molecular i de les Reials Acadèmies Espanyoles de Medicina i Farmàcia. Ha estat distingit amb nombrosos guardons i amb el Premi Ciutat de Barcelona i la Creu de Sant Jordi. L’any 2014 va rebre el Premi Nacional de Cultura i el passat 25 d’octubre el XXVIII Premi Internacional Catalunya 2016, que també van rebre els doctors Baselga i Esteller, per la seva tasca a escala mundial en la investigació sobre el càncer. Actualment, el Dr. Massagué es director científic del Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center de Nova York, un dels centres de recerca sobre el càncer més destacats dels Estats Units. Premi Internacional Catalunya 2016; Premi Nacional de Cultura 2014; Premi Santiago Ramon y Cajal 2014; Premi Clowes Memorial de l’Associació Americana de Recerca del Càncer (2009); Premi Fundació BBVA "Fronteras del Conocimiento", a la categoria de Biomedicina (2008);  Creu de Sant Jordi de la Generalitat de Catalunya (2006); Premi Príncep d'Astúries d'investigació científica i tècnica (2004);  Premi Ciutat de Barcelona de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona (1994);  Premio Nacional de Investigación Rey Don Juan Carlos (1993) i  Premi Vilcek de Recerca Biomèdica (2006).

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: November, 10th 2017
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

Acadèmic d’amplíssima projecció internacional reconegut per la seva contribució en els àmbits del lideratge, la intel·ligència emocional i el canvi personal. Nascut a Nova York l'any 1946, el 2012 va ser distingit com un dels vint pensadors més influents del món en el camp de la psicologia de l’organització. Els seus estudis sobre lideratge emocional i el seu model de canvi intencional son àmpliament citats per la comunitat acadèmica i utilitzats pels professionals del desenvolupament directiu. Gran pedagog i innovador en la formació de directius, la seva producció intel·lectual inclou més de 150 articles i 7 llibres, algun dels quals son publicacions clau en el seu camp de coneixement, com “The Competent Manager”, primer estudi reconegut sobre les competències dels directius i un referent en la introducció del desenvolupament de competències en els estudis de management. Col·labora amb ESADE-URL des de l’any 2002, temps duran el qual ha contribuït al llançament i consolidació del programa LEAD, tant en la seva vessant de formació com de recerca. Fruit d’aquesta col·laboració són diversos articles publicats amb professors del grup de recerca GLEAD en revistes de notable factor d’impacte. Conferenciant habitual en els circuits internacionals i molt sol·licitat per les grans empreses multinacionals.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: April, 30th 2019
Proposed by: ESADE Business School-URL

Polític i economista, va néixer a Barcelona l’any 1936. És doctor en Dret (1968) i en Ciències Econòmiques (1975). Va ser professor d’Economia d’ESADE (1961-1970), d’Anàlisi Econòmica a la UAB, catedràtic d’Economia Política i Hisenda Pública a la UIB (1981) i catedràtic d’Economia Política a la UB (1983-2007). Rector de la UB (1984-1994), de la qual és rector emèrit, va ser president de l’Associació d’Universitats Europees (European Universities Association) (1994-1998). Va ser membre del Consell de la Universitat de les Nacions Unides (1998-2004) i dels consells d’avaluació de les universitats i de la recerca a França (Comité National d’Evaluation) de 2003 a 2011. Va ser secretari general de la Presidència de la Generalitat de Catalunya (1977- 1979) i conseller de Governació (1979-1980) del Govern del President Tarradellas, així com diputat al Parlament de Catalunya (1984-1986). L’any 2004 el president Maragall li va encarregar el disseny del Consell de les Arts. Va formar part de la Comissió Delegada del Consorci del Liceu (1984-1991) i el 2006 va ingressar a l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans dins la Secció de Filosofia i Ciències Socials. Ha estat distingit amb la Creu de Sant Jordi (1994), la Gran Cruz de Alfonso X el Sabio (1996), la Medalla d’Or de la ciutat de Barcelona al Mèrit Científic (1999) i la Medalla d’Honor de la Conferència de Rectors de les Universitats Espanyoles (2005), entre d’altres. És doctor honoris causa per sis universitats.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: November, 15th 2019
Proposed by: Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations-URL

He is one of the great American professors in the fields of Communication, Public Relations and Public Diplomacy. He is also the Professor of Communication at Emerson College in Boston, one of the main communication faculties in the United States. He has been one of the great promoters of the city of Barcelona in the international networks, as well as one of the architects of the presence of the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations in the United States. As far as teaching is concerned, he has been a professor at Emerson College since 1983, being the professor of Communication studies. He has been guest professor in different countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. As a consultant, he has participated in public diplomacy projects especially aimed at US foreign relations and, in the field of political communication, he has worked with politicians such as Tom Bradley, Ray Flynn, Hillary Clinton, Robert Dole and Prince Faisal al Saud. These are the American professors who have worked most on concepts derived from the field of Public Relations, such as Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, which they have also developed in certain areas, especially in international relations and American politics.

Video of the ceremony

Concessió: 4 de febrer de 2020
A proposta de: Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura La Salle-URL

Arquitecta francesa (Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière, 1955) graduada a l’Escola Nacional Superior d’Arquitectura de Bordeus. Ha desenvolupat, juntament amb el seu marit Jean Philippe Vassal, també arquitecte, una carrera marcada per una visió de la professió basada en el valor social de l’arquitectura i en l’economia circular. A partir del respecte per l’entorn natural i històric, en els projectes de l’estudi Lacaton & Vassal prima la idea de la rehabilitació abans de la demolició i de la construcció d’espais confortables a base de dissenys pràctics basats en la llum i l’espai, fent un ús racional dels recursos per aconseguir més amb menys. Els seus projectes busquen, a través d’intervencions amb tècniques pròpies de la tradició, de les construccions agrícoles o industrials i de la innovació tecnològica, aconseguir aprofitar els recursos al màxim, intervenint només en el necessari i imprescindible, amb la persona i la conservació al centre. Alguns exemples d’aquesta sensibilitat en els seus projectes són la restauració del Palais de Tokio, la reforma de la Torre Bois-le-Prêtre o la reforma de la plaça de Lleó Aucoc de Bordeus. 

Entre els darrers premis que ha rebut Lacaton destaca el Premi EU Mies Van der Rohe (pel Grand Parc, a Burdeos) (2019), el Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2018), el Simon Architecture Prize / Fondation Mies Van der Rohe - The Living Places (juntament amb Frédéric Druot i Christophe Hutin per la transformació de 3 edificis d'habitatges a Burdeos) (2016), la Medalla d'Or de l'Académie de l’Architecture de França (2016) o la Medalla d'Or Heinrich Tessenow (2016).

Vídeo de l'acte

Awarded: October, 22th 2021
Proposed by: La Salle International School of Commerce and Digital Economy-URL

Professor Jerome S. Engel is an internationally recognized expert in innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital who lectures and advises business and government leaders around the world. His research and publications explore innovation ecosystems, technology commercialization, and innovation management practices in established and emerging companies.

Engel joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley in 1991, after a successful business career, to found the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, where he currently serves as a senior fellow and founding executive director. He has been the founding general partner of two successful venture capital funds, a member of the investment advisory boards of several international venture funds and a leader in the Lean Innovation movement, founding National Faculty Director of the National Science Foundations’ I-Corps, a US government program that develops entrepreneurial technology commercialization teams at leading universities across the United States.

He is currently adjunct professor emeritus at the Haas School of Business (University of California, Berkeley). A frequent author and speaker, he has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio and other global media. His awards and recognitions include the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance Lifetime Educational Achievement Award and the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Award for Outstanding Contributions to Advance the Discipline of Entrepreneurship, among others.

Video of the ceremony

Awarded: June, 7th 2024
Proposed by: IQS School of Engineering-URL

Born in 1968 in the working-class town of Bellshill, Scotland, David W. MacMillan studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow, where he worked with Dr. Ernie Colvin. In 1990 he began doctoral studies with Professor Larry Overman at the University of California, Irvine. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Professor David Evans at Harvard University in 1996. Subsequently, he began his independent career at the University of California, Berkeley in 1998 before moving in 2000 to Caltech to hold the Erale C. Anthony Chair in Organic Chemistry. In 2006, he moved as A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry to Princeton University, where he continues his scientific and academic activities. During the period 2010-2015, he served as head of the Department of Chemistry at the same university. He is currently the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry.

In 2021 he was awarded - together with Benjamin List (Institut Max Planck, Mülheim an der Ruhr) - the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of the area of asymmetric organocatalysis”.

MacMillan is one of the world leaders in the area of Methodological Synthetic Chemistry and his research is focused on the discovery and fine-tuning of new chemical reactions for bond formation in a more efficient, selective and sustainable way. MacMillan and his team have spent an enormous amount of effort throughout his career searching for new catalytic concepts - a key area for these bond-forming reactions - and new ways to apply them to the total synthesis of natural products and pharmacologically active compounds. With this research, they have succeeded in providing the scientific community with a unique arsenal of chemical tools.

Video of the ceremony