Royal Decorations awarded to four UG staff members

Three professors nominated by the University of Groningen will receive royal decorations on Tuesday 26 April. Prof. P. Kleingeld and Prof. J.B.T.M. Roerdink have been appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and Prof. J.H. Garretsen has been appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau. In addition to the three recipients nominated by the UG, University Library staff member B.H. de Boer will also be awarded a royal decoration on 26 April.

The Mayor of Leiden, H.J.J. Lenferink, and the Mayor of Zeist, J.J.L.M. Janssen, gave permission for the royal decorations to be presented to Prof. P. Kleingeld and Prof. J.B.T.M. Roerdink respectively in the municipality of Groningen. During the celebratory ceremony at the Buitensociëteit venue on Meerweg in Haren, the decorations will be awarded by Mayor of Groningen K.F. Schuiling.

Pauline Kleingeld

Pauline Kleingeld, Professor of Ethics and its History at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Groningen, is one of the leading philosophers of our time. She is universally renowned as a prominent leading academic with a captivating personality, a unifying leader, an involved bridge-builder, and an inspiring role model for young and old. Inspired by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, one of the greatest and most influential philosophers of all time, she has made groundbreaking contributions to a better and more nuanced understanding of the ideas of the Enlightenment. Her exceptional work is a powerful plea for the meaning and relevance of Kant’s opinions on human dignity, autonomy, free will, global citizenship, morality, and reasonability. At the same time, it is an important step towards a modern formulation of Kant’s ethics.

Jos Roerdink

Jos Roerdink is a Professor of Scientific Visualization and Computer Graphics at the Faculty Science and Engineering (FSE) of the University of Groningen. At the time of his appointment as associate professor in 1992, the Computer Science department consisted of a only a handful students and staff members. As a result of his efforts and vision, he has managed to create a strong internationally recognized top institute. As a professor, he also established the Computing Science course unit as well as the Scientific Visualization and Computer Graphics research group. In addition, he led the successful merger between the ALICE research institute and the Johann Bernoulli Institute. He is also considered to be a key and impartial pillar, and for this exact reason he has been able to unite computer scientists and unify the field.

Harry Garretsen

For many years, Harry Garretsen, Professor of International Economics & Business at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen and Director of the Centre of Expertise In the LEAD, has been combining his groundbreaking research at the interface of international, spatial, and macro-economics with structural attention for leadership and management. He is known as an excellent people and society-focused researcher and expert, a skilled adviser, and a dedicated manager, who applies himself to improving quality and innovation in science with good results and obvious pleasure. This combination makes him unique in the Netherlands and abroad, and a role model for younger generations of researchers.