Honorary degrees 2009-2000

Scientific merit

• Em Prof Henk Timmerman
  The Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences’ honorary doctorate was awarded to Henk Timmerman, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacochemistry (Medicinal Chemistry) at the Free University of Amsterdam. Timmerman is recognised as one of the leading figures in medicinal chemistry, particularly with regard to histamine.
  Supervisor: Prof Koen Augustyns
   
• Prof Raimond Gaita
  The Faculty of Arts awarded an honorary doctorate to contemporary Anglo-Saxon philosopher Raimond Gaita, who has dedicated his career to practising an accessible form of philosophy. He is generally recognised as an authoritative moral philosopher thanks to publications on Peter Winch and Wittgenstein as well as his book Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception. He is also known for his other books, among which Romulus, My Father (which was also adapted for the screen), A Common Humanity: Thinking about love and truth and justice, and The Philosopher’s Dog.
  Supervisor: Prof Willem Lemmens
   
• Prof Robert Alexy
  The Faculty of Law awarded an honorary doctorate to Robert Alexy, professor at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany. He is an international expert in the fields of public law, law theory and human rights. Alexy is one of the most prominent contemporary constitutionalists and law theorists, and has worked with dedication on human rights and distributive justice.
  Supervisor: Prof George Pavlakos
   
• Prof Richard Dawkins
  Richard Dawkins, associated with the University of Oxford (UK), received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science. Dawkins found fame with his book The Selfish Gene, in which he explains how natural selection, as the central mechanism of biological evolution, affects individual genes rather than entire organisms. This concept is still the basic framework for modern evolutionary research. Dawkins appeared on Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential people in 2007.
  Supervisor: Prof Herwig Leirs

General merit

• Mr Jan Fabre
  Jan Fabre is a world-class contemporary artist. In various disciplines (visual art, choreography, opera, theatre, film, performance) he designs his own universe, in which imagination rules but reality is not forgotten. In order to come up with his creations, he unites intuition, instinct and scientific observation. Fabre has worked for the largest ballet companies in Europe as well as the most famous art festivals, and his plays have been translated into many languages.
  Supervisor: Prof Luc Van den Dries

Scientific merit

• Prof Richard P. Bagozzi
  Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science
  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA)
  Honorary doctorate in Applied Economics
  Laudatio by Prof Annouk Lievens
   
• Prof John Fiske
  Emeritus Professor of Communication and Television Studies
  University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA)
  Honorary doctorate in Communication Studies
  Laudatio by Prof Hilde Van den Bulck
   
• Prof Frits Pieter van Oostrom
  University Professor for the Humanities
  University of Utrecht (Netherlands)
  President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Arts
  Laudatio by Prof Frank Willaert
   
• Prof Renu Virmani
  Professor of Cardiovascular Pathology
  George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (USA)
  Honorary doctorate in Medicine
  Laudatio by Prof Christiaan Vrints

General merit

• Camille Paulus
  Governor of the Province of Antwerp
  Honorary doctorate for general merit
  Laudatio by Prof Francis Van Loon, Rector
   
• Amos Oz
  Israeli writer
  Honorary doctorate for general merit
  Laudatio by Prof Guido Vanheeswijck, Chair of the Pieter Gillis Centre

Scientific merit

• Prof Francisco Bezanilla
  Professor of Molecular Biophysics, University of Chicago (USA)
  Honorary doctorate in Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
  Laudatio by Prof Dirk Snyders
   
• Prof John F. Nash, Jr.
  Doctor in Mathematics, Princeton University, New Jersey (USA)
  Nobel Prize winner for Economics 1994
  Honorary doctorate in Applied Economics
  Laudatio by Prof Karel Soudan
   
• Prof Fausto Pocar
  Professor of Law, University of Milan (Italy)
  Chair of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands
  Honorary doctorate in Law
  Laudatio by Prof Marta Pertegas
   
• Prof Lisa Randall
  Professor of Physics, Harvard University (USA)
  Honorary doctorate in Science
  Laudatio by Prof Albert De Roeck

General merit

• Antwerp city poets: Bart Moeyaert, Ramsey Nasr and Tom Lanoye
  Laudatio by Prof Herman Van Goethem

Scientific merit

• Prof Robert Will
  The honorary doctorate for Medicine was awarded to Robert Will of the University of Edinburgh. Will discovered the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and was the first to write an article about it in The Lancet. He was also the director of the world-famous CJD Surveillance Centre in Edinburgh for many years.
  Supervisor: Prof Patrick Cras
   
• Prof Rukmini Bhaya Nair
  Rukmini Bhaya Nair of the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Arts. She is one of the leading contemporary intellectuals in India. The central theme of her scientific work is language but it also touches on linguistics, linguistic philosophy, the cognitive sciences, cultural studies and literary theory.
  Supervisors: Professors Jef Verschueren, Walter De Mulder and Kathleen Gyssels
   
• Prof Vojtech Mastny
  The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences awarded an honorary doctorate to Vojtech Mastny, coordinator of the Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact (Zurich) and Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. His research was the basis for important breakthroughs in the study of the Cold War which have made it possible to transcend and refine well-established schools of thought.
  Supervisor: Prof Yvan Vandenberghe
   
• Prof Graham D. Farquhar
  On the recommendation of the Biology Department, the Faculty of Science awarded an honorary doctorate to Graham D. Farquhar, distinguished professor at the Australian National University (Canberra) and group leader of the Environmental Biology Group. His research focuses on the study of two processes (photosynthesis and stomatal regulation) that are crucial to carbon absorption as well as the growth and productivity of all plants.
  Supervisor: Prof Reinhart Ceulemans

General merit

• Mr Luc Tuymans
  This honorary doctorate serves to confirm the globally recognised importance of Luc Tuymans, an artist engaged in exploring the possibilities and limitations of paintings as conveyors of insight. Not only is Tuymans an internationally respected painter, he has also developed a rich layer of intellectual discourse around his work.
  Supervisor: Mr Ernest Van Buynder

Scientific merit

• Prof Hugh G. Beale
  The honorary doctorate in Law was awarded to Hugh G. Beale, Professor of Law at the University of Warwick (UK). He is a law commissioner at the Law Commission for England and Wales, which is responsible for the revision of common law. Beale has made important contributions to the improvement of contract law and to the development of a European common framework of reference in that area.
  Supervisor: Prof Matthias Storme
   
• Prof Jonathan Israel
  Jonathan Israel received the honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Arts. He has worked in the School of Historical Studies at Princeton’s prestigious Institute for Advanced Studies (USA) since 2001 and is one of the most influential scholars in Early Modern history, particularly the history of the Low Countries. He has proven capable of integrating almost all of the domains of historical reality into one coherent synthesis.
  Supervisor: Prof Guido Marnef
   
• Prof Dani Rodrik
  The Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB) awarded an honorary doctorate to Dani Rodrik, who teaches International Political Economics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (USA). Rodrik explores what makes good economic policy and why some governments are able to achieve it more successfully than others.
  Supervisor: Prof Danny Cassimon
   
• Prof Ken Sanders
  The Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences awarded an honorary doctorate in Biomedical Sciences to Ken Sanders. Sanders is the Head of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biology at the University of Nevada (Reno, USA). He has conducted pioneering work related to molecular and physiological mechanisms that underpin the function of involuntary muscles in the gastrointestinal tract.
  Supervisor: Prof Jean-Pierre Timmermans

General merit

• UNICEF
  Carol Bellamy, retired Executive Director of UNICEF, accepted the honorary doctorate for general merit in honour of her years of dedication to the welfare of children all over the world. The organisation played a crucial role in the establishment of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
  Laudatio by Prof Karel Rimanque

Scientific merit

• Em Prof Amyand D. Buckingham
  Amyand D. Buckingham (University of Cambridge, UK), one of the most influential authorities on physical chemistry, received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science. His research extends across diverse specialities related to the optical, electrical and magnetic properties of molecules.
  Laudatio by Prof Benjamin van der Veken
   
• Prof David M.G. Newbery
  David M. G. Newbery (University of Cambridge, UK) received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Applied Economics. His work has made important contributions to the fields of social cost-benefit analyses, tax reform in developing countries and economies in transition, agricultural reform and stabilisation programmes, industrial organisation, environmental economy and transport economy. He also worked as an economic advisor for the British government and for various international organisations.
  Laudatio by Prof Bruno De Borger
   
• Sir Tony Atkinson
  Sir Tony Atkinson (University of Oxford, UK), who received an honorary doctorate in Political and Social Sciences, is an authority in the field of income inequality, poverty and social policy. His contributions have addressed the measurement of inequality (the Atkinson index), the fair tax structure, the role of the welfare state, and economic policy for combating poverty. His work is pioneering both in its methodology and in the theories developed. He has made a huge contribution to our thinking about the notion of a social Europe and to the development of instruments that should accompany European social policy.
  Laudatio by Prof Bea Cantillon
   
• Em Prof Herman M. Van Praag
  Herman M. Van Praag (University of Maastricht), who received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the founding father of biological psychiatry in the Netherlands and Flanders. His fundamental research into neurotransmission disturbances in the brain is of major importance for the diagnosis and treatment of severely depressed patients.
  Laudatio by Prof Bernard Sabbe

General merit

• Mr Nelson Mandela
  Nelson Mandela’s exceptional record of service is well known. After years of imprisonment following his non-violent battle against apartheid, he was eventually elected President of South Africa. In that position he was able to bring an exceptionally difficult and delicate process of political transition to a successful conclusion. After his term in office, Mandela devoted himself to achieving peace on the African continent. Among other achievements, he was able to negotiate and conclude a peace treaty for Burundi.
  Laudatio by Prof Filip Reyntjens

Scientific merit

• Prof Jean-Claude Javillier
  Faculty of Law
  Social lawyer who focuses on the emancipation of those who are marginalised socially
   
• Prof Willem J.M. Levelt
  Faculty of Arts 
  Psycholinguist who unravels the complex process of human speech
   
• Prof Donald Knuth
  Faculty of Science
  Author of The Art of Computer Programming
   
• Prof Paul M. Vanhoutte
  Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
  Unravels the mechanisms related to the regulation of tissue bleeding and blood pressure

General merit

• Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
  Courageous and non-violent commitment to the basic needs and development of Afghan women

Scientific merit

• Prof G. Burnstock
  Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
  Emeritus Professor in Anatomy and Director of the Autonomic Neuroscience Institute at University College London (UK)
  Laudatio by Prof Dietrich Scheuermann
   
• Prof Glenn R. Carroll
  Faculty of Applied Economics
  Professor of Sociology at Stanford University (California, USA)
  Laudatio by Prof Bert De Brabander
   
• Prof Maxwell E. McCombs
  Faculty of Political and Social Sciences
  Laudatio by Prof Christ'l De Landtsheer
   
• Prof Sumio Iijima
  Faculty of Science
  Laudatio by Prof Gustaaf Van Tendeloo

General merit

• Mr Victor Van Bortel
  Founder of Kishor Nagar (Ranchi, India), a centre for boys
  Laudatio by Prof Karel Van den Bosch

Scientific merit

• Prof Evert A. Alkema
  Faculty of Law
  Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Leiden
  Laudatio by Prof Karel Rimanque
   
• Prof George A. Akerlof
  Faculty of Applied Economics
  Professor of Economics at the University of California (Berkeley, USA)
  Laudatio by Prof Guido Erreygers
   
• Prof Guido N.J. Tytgat
  Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
  Professor in Gastroenterology at the University of Amsterdam
  Laudatio by Prof Paul Pelckmans
   
• Prof Nils Christian Stenseth
  Faculty of Science
  Professor of Biology at the University of Oslo (Norway)
  Laudatio by Prof Ron Verhagen

Scientific merit

• Prof Albie L. Sachs
  On the recommendation of the College for Developing Countries, an honorary doctorate in Development Policy and Management was awarded to Professor Sachs for his scientific work and tireless efforts related to policy based on fundamental human rights. He is a Professor of Law and honorary professor at the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), a judge in the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and an honorary professor at the University of Cape Town.
  Laudatio by Prof Daniël Van Den Bulcke
   
• Prof Jan R. A. Baak
  The Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences awarded an honorary doctorate to Jan R. A. Baak for his influential contribution to the field of quantitative pathology. Baak is a Professor of Pathology at the Free University of Amsterdam and at Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA). He is also a pathologist at the Medical Centre of Alkmaar (Netherlands).
  Laudatio by Prof Eric Van Marck
   
• Prof Linda Hutcheon
  The Faculty of Arts awarded an honorary doctorate to Linda Hutcheon for her important contributions to the study of comparative literature. Hutcheon is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto (Canada) and Chair of the Modern Language Association of America.
  Laudatio by Prof Geert Lernout
   
• Prof Robert D. Putnam
  The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences awarded an honorary doctorate to Robert D. Putnam for his influential research on the importance of social capital for democracy. Putnam is a Professor of Public Policy in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (Boston, USA). He is also a fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  Laudatio by Prof Stefaan Walgrave

General merit

• Mr John Cale
  On the recommendation of the Faculty of Science, an honorary doctorate was awarded to John Cale for his influential and pioneering work in contemporary music, ballet music and film scores and for his eminent contributions to the development of modern art. He is a composer and Honorary Fellow at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
  Laudatio by Prof Robert Lowen