Lena Miranda receives the honorary doctorate of science in recognition of her fierce commitment to collaboration between the university and the business world, and her consuming interest in innovation and entrepreneurship coupled to societal development. After studying media and culture sciences at LiU, she worked in several industries before being appointed CEO of Linköping Science Park in 2014. Lena Miranda has also been chair of the board for Swedish Incubators and Science Parks (SISP), and member of the Swedish National Innovation Council.
Åke Axelsson, interior designer and furniture designer, will also become an honorary doctor of science. During his professional life, he has created furniture for royal buildings, churches and Swedish cultural institutions. He is honoured for his initiatives in furniture as a field of research and education, and in design as a motivating force in sustainable societal development. Åke Axelsson has been highly significant for Malmstens Linköping University on Campus Lidingö and the study programmes it offers in furniture design, cabinet-making, and furniture upholstery.
Research into the circular economy, learning and self-care
Arnold Tukker, professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, has also been awarded an honorary doctorate of science. He is chair of the board of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability, where over 300 researchers focus on systems analysis, technology and design, business models and behaviour, and governance for a circular economy. Arnold Tukker has coordinated major European research projects in resource efficiency, and is being honoured for nearly 20 years of productive collaboration with LiU researchers, giving valuable knowledge and inspiring new research projects.
Lucy Henry, professor of speech and language at City, University of London in the UK, will become an honorary doctor of philosophy. She will be recognised as a pioneer in research into learning and thinking processes in children with cognitive disabilities, in particular how working memory influences the development of various skills. Lucy Henry’s collaboration with LiU started in 2009, and has strengthened since then through several joint research projects working with cognition and intellectual disability.
Barbara Riegel, professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, has been awarded an honorary doctorate of medical science. She has conducted international leading research in the care sciences for several decades, focussing on self-care in patients with chronic conditions. She visited Linköping University as guest professor in 2010-2012, when she developed close research collaboration with LiU. This has since continued and become more intensive. Barbara Riegel was also a driving force for the collaboration between LiU and the University of Pennsylvania, as the education in advanced specialist surgical nursing was established.
All honorary doctors will be promoted at the Academic Ceremony this autumn, to take place on 12 November in the De Geer Hall in Norrköping. During 10 and 11 November, they will each hold a lecture. Everybody is welcome to come and listen.
Translation: George Farrants
Photo credit Peter Holgersson AB