Patron Saint’s Day 2015: KU Leuven to confer 5 honorary doctorates
2 February 2015
Each year as part of its Patron Saint's Day celebrations, KU Leuven recognises individuals for exceptional scientific, societal or cultural achievement. On 2 February, honorary doctorates will be conferred upon Philippe Claudel, Carl Folke, Rakesh Jain and Brainard Guy Peters. Chilean president Michelle Bachelet will receive her honorary doctorate later this year.
Philippe Claudel: multifaceted artist and humanist
Philippe Claudel (France) is a writer, filmmaker and screenwriter. Since his debut in 1999, he has forged a broad and diverse oeuvre. His novel Les âmes grises (2003) was awarded the Prix Renaudot, marking his breakthrough on the international stage. Claudel’s later work, e.g. Le rapport de Brodeck (2007), is equally widely acclaimed. In 2012, he was elected a member of the prestigious Académie Goncourt in Paris.
As a writer, Claudel is known for his sophisticated style, surprising imagery and refined descriptions. His writing is never forced, enhancing its depth and nuance. Claudel uses the most unassuming of characters to explore the complexity of interpersonal relationships and tease out existential questions. The empathy with which he renders the aftermath of the traumatic events of twentieth-century history has won him a unique place in contemporary French and European literature. Claudel is also a gifted screenwriter – a subject he teaches at the University of Nancy – and director of such films as Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, which won the César for best debut film in 2008.
Click here to read our extended interview with Mr. Claudel
Carl Folke: the resilience of socio-ecological systems
Carl Folke (Sweden), an ecologist, studies integrated socio-ecological systems and their resilience in the wake of a shock. Folke’s work adds a new dimension to our thinking on sustainability: he conceives of societies as living systems that are continually changing in interaction with their biophysical surroundings. His research on the resilience of these ecosystems is particularly pertinent for policy frameworks aimed at addressing climate change.
Carl Folke is professor and director at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, an international research institute under the auspices of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and founder and science director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. His is also editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Ecology and Society and co-founder of the Resilience Alliance, an international research organisation comprising scientists and practitioners from many disciplines working together on the dynamic of socio-economic systems.
Click here to read our extended interview with Professor Folke
Rakesh Jain: engineer and cancer research pioneer
Rakesh Jain (India) is a chemical engineer and has applied this knowledge in the service of cancer research. He is Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Tumor Biology at Harvard Medical School and is director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Jain’s 580 published papers have been cited more than 56,000 times. He is one of only twenty people to be elected to the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.
Jain is a medical trailblazer. His work has demonstrated the crucial role engineering techniques can play in the detection and treatment of cancer and has fundamentally changed our understanding of how cancer drugs work. Using complex mathematical models, animal models and advanced imaging techniques, Jain has succeeded in mapping blood vessel growth in tumours and has pointed colleagues to new therapies for one of the most prevalent killers in the Western world.
In 2001, Jain proposed a ground-breaking hypothesis on the normalisation of blood vessels in tumours. He found that re-engineering – rather than repressing – blood vessel growth in tumours actually deterred tumour metastasis. Jain’s insight has since been confirmed in mice models, and clinical trials in humans are currently underway.
Click here to read our extended interview with Professor Jain
Brainard Guy Peters: a critical voice in governance studies
Brainard Guy Peters (United States) is a political scientist, Maurice Falk Professor of American Government at the University of Pittsburgh and Distinguished Professor of Governance at Zeppelin University in Germany. He is a veteran in the field of public administration studies, where he developed such concepts as governance and new institutionalism. Working from a decidedly comparative perspective, Peters has published and edited dozens of internationally acclaimed books on governance and public administration. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Tallinn.
Peters is widely respected as a critical voice on the administratively structured world. For decades, he has underscored – both in academic discourse and in practice – the importance and consequences of administration. International organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Commission, the OECD and UNICEF have called on his expertise.
Peters is also a dedicated science communicator. He is the founder of multiple leading journals, including the European Political Science Review and Governance, an International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions. He is a dedicated advisor and mentor to students and young researchers, for whom he has organised many PhD summer schools and courses. Taken together, Peters is a ‘total-package’ academic of the highest calibre. At 70, he is as dedicated and productive as ever.
Click here to read our extended interview with Professor Peters
Michelle Bachelet: defender of human rights and gender equality
Michelle Bachelet (Chile) is a physician and politician. In 2006, she was elected president of Chile, the first woman to hold that office. After leaving the presidency, she was appointed executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). She was re-elected to a new four-year term as Chile’s president in 2013.
Bachelet studied medicine and military strategy in Chile and Germany. She entered socialist politics early in her youth and held various posts in Santiago’s municipal government, eventually netting a post in the national administration as Minister of Health in 2000. In that role, she implemented an extensive programme of healthcare reform. As Minister of National Defense (2002-2004), she furthered the reconciliation of her country while also condemning human rights violations with a clear nunca más – never again. In 2006, she formed and led a government with ten male and ten female ministers. As president, she implemented a new pension system and prioritised women’s rights, passing a new law for equal pay. Bachelet has distinguished herself through her straight-lined thinking and her dedication to human rights, the underprivileged and gender equality.
