KU Leuven awards six honorary doctorates, including for Mario Draghi
KU Leuven is set to award an honorary doctorate to Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank. This was announced on Monday in a press release. Five other scholars will also receive honorary doctorates in recognition of their pioneering contributions to their fields.
The ceremony will take place during the university’s annual Patron’s Day celebrations on 2 February. This day honours Mary, the university’s patron saint, and the awarding of honorary doctorates has been a part of the celebrations since 1954.
Among the six honourees is Italian economist Draghi. He was president of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019, during which time he steered the eurozone through the sovereign debt crisis.
Regarded as one of Europe’s most influential economists, he published a significant report last year aimed at enhancing the EU’s competitiveness. He was also Italy’s prime minister from 2021 to 2022.
The other honorary doctorates will be awarded to Ségolène Aymé, a French geneticist and epidemiologist who is an emeritus research director at INSERM and a leading authority on rare diseases at Hôpital de la Salpêtrière in Paris; and Karen Braitmayer, an American architect who founded the inclusive design consultancy Studio Pacifica in 1993 and is widely regarded as a pioneer in accessible architecture.
American art historian James Elkins will also be honoured for his extensive body of widely used reference works, and for his early advocacy of decolonisation and more inclusive perspectives within his discipline.
US physicist Raymond Goldstein is also being recognised for his work in the emerging field of the physics of life, which examines living systems such as cells and bacteria.
Pakistani human rights lawyer Hina Jilani, a member of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the co-founder and former head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, as well as the former UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, will also receive an honorary doctorate.
#FlandersNewsService | Mario Draghi © PHOTO DUTCHPRESSPHOTO
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