Dies Academicus 2012

President of the Public Health Foundation of India, K. Srinath Reddy was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine honoris causa by the University of Lausanne.

Trained in cardiology and epidemiology, this former director of the Department of Cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) devotes his time in particular to developing and strengthening public health policies and preventing cardiovascular disease in his country. The author of numerous scientific articles and active at international level, he has also won awards for his literary talents and oratory skills.

Philosopher and historian Georges Vigarello has been awarded the title of Doctor of Sport and Physical Education honoris causa by the University of Lausanne.

Born in Monaco in 1941, this renowned researcher, a member of the Centre Edgar Morin at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, is a specialist in sport, the body, health, hygiene and physical education. His multidisciplinary work on social imaginaries places representations of virility and femininity in a historical perspective, and questions sporting, scientific, technical and legal practices, values and norms relating to the body.

Read the interview with Georges Viarello published in Uniscope no 573 (PDF, 3300 Kb)

Lawyer Christiane Brunner has been awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Lausanne.

A former president of the Swiss Socialist Party, this Geneva-based trade unionist enjoyed a successful career in the Grand Council of the canton of Geneva (1981-1990), the National Council (1991-1995) and then the Council of States (1995-2007). Although she has since retired from the public eye, this socialist figure regularly and convincingly appears on the media on subjects close to her heart, such as the involvement of women in politics and their place in society.

Director of the Choeur universitaire de Lausanne for over thirty years, Jean-Christophe Aubert has been awarded the Prix de l'Université de Lausanne, at the end of his last season as the ensemble's leading light.

This year, under the guidance of this trained organist, some one hundred choristers performed a monument of Western music: Beethoven's Missa solemnis. Excerpts will be performed during the Dies Academicus. Modest, pedantic and deadpan, Jean-Christophe Aubert has managed to surround amateur choristers with a solid structure: a committee, vocal trainers and professional pianists.