Our Honoris Causa

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The title “Doctor Honoris Causa” is one of the most ancient university traditions. In France, it was made official by decree during the Third Republic on the 26th June 1918. This honorary distinction is the highest awarded by a university to recognise the competence and excellence of national or international personalities.

This honorary title is awarded to foreign personalities to thank them for their contribution to the arts, literature, science and technology as well as to France or the establishment that grants the title.

Our Honoris Causa since 2014

  • Frances Separovic (University of Melbourne)

    Frances Separovic - Professor Emeritus of chemistry and pioneer in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for the study of membranes - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 21st November 2024.

  • Sudha Seshadri (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio)

    Sudha Seshadri - Founding Director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s & neurodegenerative diseases and Director of the South Texas Alzheimer Disease Research Center - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 24th June 2024.

  • Anne L’Huillier (Lund University)

    Anne L’Huillier - Professor of Atomic Physics and 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 28th March 2024.

  • Orley Ashenfelter (Princeton University)

    Orley Ashenfelter - Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 6th April 2023.

  • Matthew Tirrell (University of Chicago)

    Matthew Tirrell - Dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 17th June 2022.

  • Martin J. Blaser (Rutgers University)

    Martin J. Blaser - Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, Director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Henry Rutgers Chair of the Human Microbiome - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 10th May 2022.

  • Michel L. Tremblay (McGill University)

    Michel L. Tremblay - biochemist, James McGill Professor, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Centre, Jeanne and J.-Louis Levesque Chair in Cancer Research, President elect of the Canadian Academy of Science - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 10th May 2022.

  • Martin Vetterli (Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)

    Martin Vetterli - President of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and specialist in digital signal processing and wavelet theory - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 5th October 2021.

  • Manuela Veloso (Carnegie Mellon University)

    Manuela Veloso - Head of JP Morgan Chase AI Research and Herbert A. Simon university professor emeritus - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 5th October 2021.

  • Daniel Klionsky (University of Michigan)

    Daniel Klionsky - Professor of Life Sciences - received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on the 14th November 2019.

  • Monica Di Luca (University of Milan)

    Monica Di Luca - Professor of pharmacology - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 15th October 2019.

  • Tadafumi Adschiri (Tohoku University)

    Tadafumi Adschiri - Professor of the Advanced Institute for Materials Research - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 21st May 2019.

  • Ban Ki-moon (Yonseï University)

    Ban Ki-moon - 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007-2016), Honorary Chair of the Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment, Yonseï University (Seoul, Korea), Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 17th December 2018.

  • Marcel Fournier (University of Montreal)

    Marcel Fournier - Professor of sociology at the University of Montreal - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 15th October 2018.

  • Robert G. Roeder (Rockefeller University)

    Robert G. Roeder - Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Rockefeller University in New York - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 15th of October 2018.

  • Claudio Franceschi (University of Bologna)

    Claudio Franceschi - Prof. emeritus of immunology, Director of the Center for Biophysics, Bioinformatics, Biocomplexity, University of Bologna - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 12th of March 2018.

  • Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard University)

    Ofer Bar-Yosef - Prof. emeritus of Prehistoric Archaeology, Harvard University - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 12th of March 2018.

  • Michèle Lamont (Harvard University)

    Michèle Lamont - Prof. of sociology and African/African American studies, Harvard University - received the title of Honoris Causa on the 14th of June 2017.

  • Toyoki Kunitake (Kyushu University)

    Toyoki Kunitake - Prof. of Chemistry Institute of advanced study, Kyushu University - was awarded an Honoris Causa on the 4th of May 2017.

  • Félix Goñi (University of the Basque Country)

    Félix María Goñi Urcelay - Prof. of Biochemistry, University of the Basque Country - was awarded an Honoris Causa on the 7th December 2016.

  • David Julius (University of California)

    David Julius - Prof. of Neurosciences, University of California - was awarded an Honoris Causa on the 23rd September 2015.

  • George Newkome (University of Akron)

    George R. Newkome - Prof. of Chemistry & Polymer Sciences, University of Akron - was awarded an Honoris Causa on the 8th July 2015.

  • Eric Bauce (Université Laval)

    Eric Bauce - Prof. of Forest Entomology, Executive Vice-Rector for development, Université Laval - was awarded an Honoris Causa on the 4th March 2015.

  • Thomas Steitz (University of Yale)

    Thomas Steitz - Prof. of Chemistry, University of Yale - was awarded an Honoris Causa on the 25th of June 2014.