Semmelweis University has handed out the Doctor Honoris Causa award for the fortieth time since 1967. “This year four outstanding professors, nominated by the Faculty of Medicine have become honorary doctors of the University”, said Rector Ágoston Szél.
The awardees’ laudations, their scientific achievements and their relationship with Semmelweis University were presented by Dr. László Hunyady, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
Dr. Herbert Ehringer’s (Medical University of Vienna) laudation emphasized how greatly professor Ehringer’s groundbreaking scientific research has contributed to the understanding of the pathophysiology of Parkinson disease and the development of currently used therapies. Dr. Herbert Ehringer is the member of the Lions Club and established a programme which allows students participate in an intensive, four-week-long clinical practice in Austria. So far fifty students from Semmelweis University have been to Austria with the help of the programme.
Dr. Peter Gloviczki (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota) was born in Hungary, earned his medical degree at Semmelweis University and received his surgical training at Városmajor Clinic. He has been working at Mayo Clinic since 1987. The professor’s areas of expertise are vascular and endovascular surgery, he is the member of every significant professional American society and has also been the president of the Society for Vascular Surgery. He has maintained strong professional relationships with Hungary and Hungarian vascular surgeons.
Dr. René Sylvain Kahn’s (University Medical Centre Utrecht) main area of research is schizophrenia and his work has remarkably contributed to the understanding of cerebral deformities caused by the disease. Professor Kahn has taken part in the educational and scientific activities of Semmelweis University for seventeen years and has helped young researchers receive training in Utrecht. He considerably contributed to the acknowledgement of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy as a leading clinical research centre nationally and regionally.
Colonel Dr. Richard Satava (University of Washington) is a renowned expert of minimally invasive surgery whose medical and military careers have developed side by side. His outstanding scientific activities and work have been groundbreaking in the history of surgery. Professor Satava has been in contact with Hungarian colleagues and supports the educational and research activities of the department of Surgical Research and Techniques.
The honorary diplomas and the stole the were handed over to the awardees by Dr. Ágoston Szél, Rector of Semmelweis University and Dr. László Hunyady, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
In his short address Dr. Herbert Ehringer pointed out that he started his cooperation with Semmelweis University in 2004 through the Medical Students Beyond Frontiers programme. Based on his experiences the students of Semmelweis University are exceptionally well trained and have outstanding personal qualities. Dr. Peter Gloviczki emphasized how elevating it was for him to receive such an award from his former alma mater and considers it the greatest academic acknowledgement. He asserted that his achievements were due to the education received at Semmelweis University and his teachers and mentors. Dr. René Sylvain Kahn said that he was proud to hold an honorary title awarded by a university and a country harbouring rich scientific traditions. He referred to a recent article of Nature which claimed Hungary to be the scientifically most productive country in the region. He added that psychiatric research in Hungary has a long-standing and remarkable tradition.
Pálma Dobozi
Translated by: Ágnes Raubinek
Photo: Attila Kovács, Semmelweis University
