New honorary doctorates to be awarded at the annual celebration
The five researchers who will receive honorary doctorates from Aarhus University this year join an 80-year tradition dating back to 1946, when the 18-year-old university sought to create an “intellectual pantheon” as part of its efforts to establish its own academic tradition.
Since 2011, Aarhus University has annually awarded honorary doctorates as part of its anniversary celebrations, with recipients representing each of the university’s five faculties.
At the annual celebration in September, which marks the university's 98th anniversary, professor at the University of California Karen River Barad (Arts), Professor at Copenhagen Business School Nicolai J. Foss (Aarhus BSS), Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Elizabeth Joy Lawn (Health), Professor at Lund University Anne L'Huillier (NAT) and Professor at Wageningen University Arthur P.J. Mol (Tech) will receive an honorary doctorate.
Each has had significant influence on their field of research and has contributed to the development and research at Aarhus University through the university's collaboration with their respective institutions.
The five recipients are awarded this prestigious distinction in recognition of their contributions to the university’s five faculties. They thereby become visible symbols of Aarhus University’s collaborations in Denmark and internationally, as the recipients are chosen from among researchers at institutions that work closely with the university in research, teaching, and academic networks.
But it hasn’t always been like this. If we delve into the university's history, we find that the first recipients of honorary doctorates were awarded at the grand inauguration of the university's new main building on 11 September 1946.
In 1946, the young provincial university was just 18 years old. The university’s own account of the occasion notes that its youth was specifically emphasised, as it had not yet had time to develop its own historical “pantheon” of eminent researchers and academic pioneers.
The idea behind awarding honorary doctorates was therefore to create an “intellectual pantheon” by selecting honorary doctorate recipients from among the most distinguished figures in academia in the Nordic countries and at the University of Copenhagen. This allowed the university to establish connections with some of the most distinguished scientists of the time and begin developing its own academic tradition.
Eight honorary doctorates were awarded during the ceremony in 1946. Four in the humanities, two in the social sciences, one in medicine and one in theology.
For many decades, honorary doctorates were awarded only on particularly ceremonial occasions, and it was not until 2007 that they became a permanent part of the university’s annual celebration.
The tradition of awarding an honorary doctorate for each faculty has been in place since the university’s annual celebration in 2011.
This year's annual party will be held on 11 September, with a ceremony in the Main Hall and a concert at Concert Hall Aarhus in the evening.
This text is machine translated and post-edited by Mie Skov Jeppesen.