The title of honorary doctor, doctor honoris causa in Latin, is a distinction which is awarded by a faculty. The honorary doctors are people who have achieved something of major importance for the University or for society, whom the faculty wishes to recognise and tie to its research community. Although often academics from other universities, honorary doctors can equally well be from outside academia.
School of Economics and Management, LUSEM
Business Leader Lars Ljungälv and Professors Viswanath Venkatesh and Stephen Broadberry Appointed Honorary Doctors at LUSEM
- Professor Viswanath Venkatesh, from the Pamplin Business School at Virginia Tech University, is the world's most influential researcher in the field of information systems. His research focuses on the diffusion and adoption of information systems at the societal, organizational, and individual levels. He has developed the most widely used models for examining the acceptance and use of information systems: the Technology Acceptance Model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Professor Venkatesh has been a visiting professor at the Department of Informatics here at LUSEM since 2023. He regularly leads and participates in the department’s research seminar, supporting both doctoral students and senior researchers.
- Stephen Broadberry is a professor of economic history at Oxford University. He has collaborated with researchers in Lund and visited the Department of Economic History on multiple occasions, most recently in October 2024, when he evaluated the department’s doctoral program. He has also been active as an opponent and guest lecturer at events organized by or in collaboration with the department’s researchers. Through his work, more people have the opportunity to learn about historical national accounts and how long-term economic time series can contribute to a deeper understanding of economic issues and societal analysis.
- Lars Ljungälv has shown a deep commitment to LUSEM and Lund University over many years. As an alumnus of the faculty, he has a profound understanding of the school’s values and goals. In his role as Chairman of the faculty’s advisory committee, he has contributed valuable insights from the business sector, strengthening the faculty’s strategic development and collaboration profile.
Read more on LUSEM's website: Honorary Doctors 2025
22 May | Guest Lectures by Honorary Doctor: Stephen Broadberry
EKH Seminar with LUSEM Honorary Doctor: Stephen Broadberry
Faculty of Humanities
Elmi Muller is Professor of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
The lectures will be held in English.
21 May | Guest Lectures by the HT Faculties' 2025 Honorary Doctors
Guest Lectures by the HT Faculties' 2025 Honorary Doctors
Faculty of Law
Professors Marta Pertegás Sender and Jeremias Adams-Prassl have been awarded honorary doctorates by the Faculty.
Professor Marta Pertegás Sender, Maastricht University, started her career in academia as a doctoral student in Leuven and obtained her PhD in 2000 with a thesis on cross-border patent infringement. Marta has long been a welcome guest at the faculty and she is part of several contexts where the faculty is also represented.
Jeremias Adams-Prassl is a Professor at the University of Oxford, specialising mainly in labour law and EU law. With his deep and broad approach, his research at the intersection of innovation policy, technology and the labour markets of the future has had a major impact on the academic community in the EU and beyond. His research has also provided an important knowledge base for legislators, courts and international organisations in many countries. Jeremias Adams-Prassl has been honoured with several prestigious research awards. He is an internationally highly distinguished researcher with deep knowledge of issues in the field of EU law and European labour law with a unique and sought-after interdisciplinary expertise focusing on innovation policy and technology.
Hedersdoktorer 2025 – jur.lu.se
Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts
Jon Fosse, a Norwegian author and playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023, has been conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Fineand Performing Arts at Lund University. Jon Fosse has received great international recognition for his works. His plays have been translated into over 40 languages and are regularly performed on stages around the world – in over 80 countries to date.
Malmö Theatre Academy, part of the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts at Lund University, has often used Fosse’s work in its courses and programmes. Students usually read and work with Fosse’s texts and they have also staged degree project productions of his plays.
Jon Fosse receives honorary doctorate at the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts at Lund University
Faculty of Medicine
Bengt Hjelm and Mats Paulsson.
- Bengt Hjelm, entrepreneur. Having spent most of his life developing businesses, Bengt Hjelm decided to stop working at the age of 60. With more time for reflection, Bengt Hjelm decided to use the fortune he had accumulated during his career to contribute to medical research and healthcare. The main subject focus of the family foundation is; geriatrics, urology and transplant surgery. One of the research projects supported by the Hjelms Family Foundation concerns clinical research on fall prevention. The studies conducted at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital have resulted in the first geriatric fall prevention clinic.
- Entrepreneur Mats Paulsson.Through his work with the foundation, entrepreneur Mats Paulsson has shown great commitment to medical research and development in Skåne and especially Lund. Not least in terms of research in areas such as cancer and neuroscience. By founding Medicon Village, he has created long-term conditions for research and development in medicine and life science in Skåne. This interest is also manifested through his visits to the labs to keep abreast of the progress of the foundations' support for various projects and the establishment of a foundation.
Bengt Hjelm och Mats Paulsson nya hedersdoktorer vid Medicinska fakulteten – medicin.lu.se (in Swedish)
Faculty of Science
Caroline Slomp, Professor of Geomicrobiology and Biogeochemistry at the Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, and Professor of Marine Biogeochemistry at Utrecht University (N)
Title: Life as a Marine Scientist – A Journey of Discovery.
Nederländsk biogeokemist ny hedersdoktor i naturvetenskap – naturvetenskap.lu.se (in Swedish)
22 May | Honorary Doctorate Seminar
Get inspired by this year’s Honorary Doctors in science and technology!
Faculty of Engineering, LTH
- Margaret-Anne Storey, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Victoria (LTH)
Title: Generative AI and the Future of Software Work. - Semmy Rülf, entrepreneur and board professional with a background in engineering and life sciences (LTH)
Title: Leadership in Start-ups and Growth Companies.
*Sabeth Verpoorte was appointed honorary doctor in 2024 but was unfortunately unable to attend. She will therefore participate in this year's seminar.
Semmy Rülf and Margaret-Anne Storey new honorary doctors at the Faculty of Engineering (LTH)
22 May | Honorary Doctorate Seminar
Get inspired by this year’s Honorary Doctors in science and technology!
Faculty of Theology
Naika Foroutan is Professor of Integration Research and Social Policy at Humboldt-University in Berlin where she heads the Department of Integration Studies within the Berlin Institute on Integration and Migration.
Betydande tysk forskare blir hedersdoktor vid Teologiska fakulteten vid Lunds universitet – ht.lu.se