Verónica Boix-Mansilla and Paul Levi, invested as Honoris Causa Doctors at UIC Barcelona

The event opened with the reading of the appointments of the two doctors, by Belén Castro, general secretary of the University. Next, Dr Esther Jiménez, dean of the Faculty of Education Sciences, read out her laudatio for Dr Veronica Boix Mansilla, and in turn, Dr Lluís Giner, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, read out his laudatio for Dr Paul Levi. Both highlighted the merits for which the new doctors have been awarded this recognition. Verónica Boix-Mansilla is known around the world for her work in the field of global competence and interdisciplinary education, and Dr Paul Levi is a pioneer in demonstrating the relationship between oral and general health.

The investiture ceremony featured the conferral of the cap and ring on the new doctors, as well as the presentation of the white gloves and the book of science. The investiture ceremony was followed by the acceptance speeches of admittance to the teaching body for the new Honoris Causa Doctors.

In her speech, Verónica Boix-Mansilla spoke about the vocation and the act of educating by presenting some of the theses on which she has worked for almost 20 years. I often think about why we teach what we teach, and the experiences that might perhaps one day invite our students to fall in love with a given field whose significance gives direction to their lives. So perhaps an essential pillar in the vocation to educate is understanding the greater purpose that gives meaning to our daily educational actions,” she stressed. Boix-Mansilla also reflected on our societies’ current circumstances, and the role education plays in the global context. “We live in remarkable times. For over three decades the world has witnessed a rapid and uneven process of globalisation able to connect societies as never before, giving rise to new forms of global interaction, intercultural understanding, cooperation, movement, and innovation”, she pointed out. Boix-Mansilla also warned of the strong social transformations stemming from the globalisation and digitalisation of our societies, which have been accompanied by “a rise of global inequities, political polarisation and environmental disruptions”, and criticised the rise of xenophobic nationalism in our societies. The new Honoris Causa Doctor defended the crucial role of education in the fight against xenophobia: “whether we succeed in leveraging our global interconnectedness to construct more inclusive, sustainable and just societies, or we fail to do so, opening room for hatred, violence and dehumanisation depends, in some measure, on our determination to revisit our educational commitments.”

In his speech, Dr Paul Levi spoke to the audience about his passion for dentistry, and especially for periodontics, as well as his commitment to sharing his knowledge with future dentists. He stated that “grit is passion. Grit is a dedication to making other people’s lives better because of what you can do for them”. After recalling the path that led him to join the Faculty of Dentistry at Tufts University (USA), where he has now worked for 27 years, Levi spoke of his early days in the field of periodontics during his time in the United States’ Navy, which led him to want to become a "teacher of prevention". As he was taught by his mentors, Dr Irving Glickman and Dr Samuel Adams, “preventing dental diseases was possible and patient education would be the key to a successful dental practice and a successful life”.

The event was brought to a close by the rector of the University, Dr Alfonso Méndiz, who offered his words of welcome and congratulated to the new doctors, who now form part of the UIC Barcelona academic teaching body. He highlighted how they “have excelled in two seemingly unrelated fields of knowledge. One of these is the field of health, of applied science, of healing the body; the other is in the field of education, of theoretical and practical science and of individual development”. In addition, he also mentioned how “we might be tempted to think that one science is the polar opposite of the other, and that the two are barely related. However, today's celebration proves that a unity between these sciences does exist, that dialogue between fields of knowledge is possible, and therefore, so is interdisciplinarity”.

With this double investiture ceremony, UIC Barcelona now has nine honorary doctors. Verónica Boix Mansilla and Paul Levi join the list of honorary doctors which already includes Valentí Fuster, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, Rivka Oxman, Pierpaolo Donati, Rafael Pich-Aguilera, Peter Franz Riederer and Ramon Guardans.