The celebration of the patron saint of universities returned this Friday to the Elche campus. The Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche once again commemorated the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, in an act in which it invested the clinical and health psychologist Marie Johnston, professor emeritus at the University of Aberdeen, as a new Doctor Honoris Causa. . The ceremony in the auditorium of the Rectorate and Social Council building also served to present a dozen extraordinary doctoral awards and appoint 88 new professors.
The event on the campus of Elche was led by the rector of the UMH, Juanjo Ruiz, and was also attended by the president of the Social Council, Joaquín Pérez Vázquez; the Vice President for Research, Domingo Orozco; the Vice President for Studies, Susana Fernández de Ávila; and the general secretary of the University, Mercedes Sánchez. The godmothers of the new Doctor Honoris Causa were the professors of the Social Psychology Area of the María Ángeles Pastor Mira University and Sofía López Roig.
Johnston is a UK-Listed Clinical and Health Psychologist. He is a member of scientific and academic societies, both in the context of psychology and medicine, such as, for example, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Academy of Scientific Societies for the Social Sciences, the British Psychological Society, the American Society for Behavioral Medicine, the European Society for Health Psychology, or the Behavioral Sciences and Public Health Network. In addition to his work at the University of Aberdeen, he has worked at the universities of St. Andrews, London and Oxford.
“I am very grateful to the UMH because we have had a special connection for many years. His research commands respect in the world of behavioral and health sciences. The first contact I had was with Jesús Rodríguez Marín, when we worked to create the European Society for Health Psychology in the 1980s and 1990s. Now this society celebrates its 35th anniversary and every year it organizes a congress that attracts more than a thousand attendees”, said Johnston during his investiture speech as the new Doctor Honoris Causa.
«It is an honor and a joy to see the colors of Psychology and Medicine accompanying Professor Johnston, as a sign and symbol of her interdisciplinary work, always integrating, in these two fields of knowledge. Today another woman joins the list of Honoris Causa of the UMH, “said her godmothers.
The rector was in charge of closing the ceremony. «The educational field is, together with health, the essence of a capable, humane and supportive society. Health, as well as education and culture, constitute the fundamental pillars of a free and balanced society”, concluded Ruiz.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.