Press release

Tampere University confers 14 honorary doctors at its first Conferment Ceremony on 13 August

Published on 13.8.2022

Tampere University

Speech by the representative of the honorary doctors was given by Professor Sabeth Verpoorte.

The new multidisciplinary Tampere University holds its first Conferment of Doctoral Degrees on 12–14 August 2022. The main event, the Conferment Ceremony, was organised at Tampere Hall on Saturday 13 August. The first honorary doctors of the new University were inaugurated during the ceremony.

The title of Honorary Doctor is the highest recognition that a university can award.

The new Tampere University has invited persons from Finland and abroad to accept honorary doctorates in recognition of excellence in fields represented at the University and other exceptional scientific, artistic or social merits. In the invitations of Honorary Doctors to the new University’s first doctoral conferment, the focus has also been on work conducted at the interfaces of scientific disciplines

Honorary doctors conferred at the Conferment Ceremony on 13 August:

Ana Claudia Arias, Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of California at Berkeley, United States:
In recognition of contributions to research and innovation in the field of printed, thin-film and wearable electronics

Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future, Secretary-General of the United Nations 2007–2016:
In recognition of work in pursuing peace, promoting human rights, and advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals

Chun Wei Choo, Professor at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, Canada:
In recognition of the study of the relationship between information system science and knowledge management

Bernard Cova, Senior Professor of Marketing at Kedge Business School, France:
In recognition of the study of consumer communities and interaction between businesses, and of combining academic research with strong stakeholder interaction

Klaske Havik, Professor of Methods of Analysis and Imagination at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands:
In recognition of the study of architectural writing and of texts on architecture and urban planning

Rauno Ihalainen, Director of Pirkanmaa Hospital District 1995–2019:
In recognition of promoting scientific research and education and developing cooperation between the Pirkanmaa Hospital District and Tampere University

Timothy Ingold, Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology at University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom:
In recognition of work on circumpolar regions and scholarship on exploring the relations between human beings, their skilled practices, and the environments they inhabit

Jarmo Kekäläinen, General Manager, Columbus Blue Jackets, United States:
In recognition of merits in international sports management

Elina Knihtilä, Actor, Professor of Acting at Theatre Academy, Uniarts Helsinki:
In recognition of merits in the development of Finnish actor's art and feminist artist pedagogy

Risto Käkelä, Teollisuusneuvos, founder of Avant Tecno Oy:
In recognition of achievements in developing a family-owned mechanical engineering company into a world leader in its field and for contributions to research and product development

Mari Pantsar, Director, Sustainability Solutions, at Sitra:
In recognition of achievements as a national and international promoter and debater of the circular economy and environmental sustainability

Ann Phoenix, Professor of Psychosocial Studies at the Institute of Education at University College London, United Kingdom:
In recognition of contributions to the research fields of family relations, youth and gender research, transnationality, migration and racialisation as well as theoretical and methodological innovations in these and other fields

Kimmo Pietiläinen, Non-fiction writer, translator and publisher, founder of Terra Cognita Oy:
In recognition of work in non-fiction translation and publishing in the fields of science, technology, mathematics, and philosophy

E.M.J. (Sabeth) Verpoorte, Professor at Research Institute of Pharmacy at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands:
In recognition of work on lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip research as well as of long-standing interdisciplinary collaboration

First honorary doctors get Tampere University’s own emblem on their doctoral hats

The hats of the first honorary doctors of the new University feature the University’s own emblem designed by Harri Rantanen, a Tampere-based heraldist.

The new emblem combines the most frequently used elements of the former universities: wreath, torch, and cogwheel. New elements in the emblem are a surging stream and a bridge across it. The bridge symbolises the merger of universities and fields of science and the water running beneath it the flow of knowledge. Surging water and bridges across it are also traditional symbols of Tampere, a city founded on the shores of the Tammerkoski rapids.