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The University of Namur awards Doctor Honoris Causa titles each year, alternately in the name of the institution and in the name of one of its seven faculties.
Honorary Doctors 2021
The theme "Deep impact" refers to the actions and societal commitments of the four personalities honored at this ceremony. Through their respective backgrounds, each person encounters the vision defended by our institution, which places people at the heart of its priorities. Each personality reflects the values upheld by UNamur, namely
- openness to the world
- excellence in a resolutely human approach integrating proximity, solidarity and respect
- sustainability from an environmental, social and societal point of view
- freedom of opinion
Gaël Giraud
An economist and Jesuit priest, this former chief economist at the Agence Française du Développement is director of research at the CNRS and research professor at Georgetown University (USA), where he is also founding director of the Environmental Justice Program. Specializing in mathematical economics, game theory, finance and energy issues, Gaël Giraud focuses his research on reducing inequalities and the energy and ecological transition. Highly involved in public debate, he is a regular expert contributor to French institutions and the media, raising public awareness of the risks associated with global warming, the depletion of energy resources and tax injustice.
Sponsor: Sophie Béreau, Professor in the Department of Management Sciences
Sponsor: Jérémy Dodeigne, President of the Institut Transitions and Professor in the Department of Political, Social and Communication Sciences
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Ilham Kadri
CEO of the Solvay Group since March 1, 2019, Ilhma Kadri fights for diversity, inclusion and the promotion of female leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She also places the ecological transition at the heart of her concerns, and assures us that chemistry will be indispensable to this transition.
Sponsor: Carmela Aprile, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and member of the Namur Institut of Structured Matter
Sponsor: Oscar Bernal, Director of the Department of Management Sciences
Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian economist. He fled his country's dictatorship in 1969 to France. He worked on the economic development of African countries until 1973 with the International Coffee Organization, when he decided to devote his life to photography. In 1994, with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado, he founded the press agency Amazonas images. Throughout his career, he has photographed men and women in over 120 countries around the world. His many reports show his sensitivity to the way human beings are affected by the socio-economic conditions and environment in which they live. "Autres Amériques" (1986), "Sahel" (1986), "La main de l'homme" (1993), "Exodes" and "Les enfants de l'exode" (2000), "Africa" (2007) and "Genesis" are just a few of the many books recounting his photographic testimonies. He has received numerous international awards and was a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. "Amazônia"(2021) is his next book (in reprint), recounting six years of study of the ecosystems and peoples of Amazonia.
Sponsor: Anne Roekens, Director of the History Department
Sponsor: Vincent Englebert, Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science
Carola Rackete
With a degree in nautical science and environmental management, Carola Rackete is a German activist who has been involved in environmental protection for many years. She has worked for Greenpeace and the British Antartic Survey, among others. In 2016, she took part in her first humanitarian mission as a volunteer with the German humanitarian NGO Sea-Watch, which helps migrants in the Mediterranean. In June 2019, while captain of the Sea-Watch 3, she demonstrated civil disobedience by transgressing the ban on entering the port of Lampedusa, where she disembarked some forty migrants. After this act, she wrote a book, "Time to act", in which she alerts us to the plight of refugees and our planet, inviting us to re-evaluate our values and change our model.
Sponsor: Laura Manne, Political Science student
Sponsor: Stéphane Leyens, philosophy professor and director of the University Forum for International Development Cooperation.
