The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon awarded Professor Ronald Harden the Honoris Causa Doctorate.

This title was presented by the Rector of the University of Lisbon, António Cruz Serra. The ceremony took place in the Faculty of Medicine, and was also attended by the Director of the Faculty, Fausto J. Pinto, and the laureate’s godmother, Professor Madalena Patrício.

He graduated at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Glasgow, in the United Kingdom, and after 12 years working as an endocrinologist, Ronald Harden devoted himself full-time to medical education; he is currently Professor at the University of Dundee, in the UK.

His contribution to excellence in education earned him numerous awards, in particular the Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education, considered the Nobel for Research in Medical Education.

With more than 400 published articles, in the words of Professor Madalena Patrício, it was time to share Ronald Harden’s career, “a unique personality in education, whose human qualities made him an extraordinary person. I found out his exceptional qualities and a very close friend, with a great sense of humour and a unique ability to innovate, to create, gifted with an higher intelligence. Probably, his most extraordinary attribute is his ability to interact with others, showing everyone, even the humblest ones, his interest, respect and empathy, showing them that they’re valid and that everyone has something important to give. The award of the Honoris Causa Doctorate is the recognition of his merit and the devotion to the fundamental values of Education, Medicine and the University”.

After thanking “such a distinctive mention”, Ronald Harden made an analogy between the Clinical Professor and a dragonfly, as the many ambivalences that each of its four wings have need to work simultaneously and are mutually enriching. Issues such as the challenges that a Professor faces nowadays, education versus work, the different backgrounds of each student, the new approaches of teaching, and the access to information, were some of the examples addressed to explain the adaptation and the different strategies followed by a “dragonfly” Professor in today’s global world.

The ceremony ended with a performance by the Medical Choir and the Medical Orchestra of Lisbon, who played three musical themes Vois Sur Ton Chemin, of the movie “Les Choristes”; Russian Dance of the “Nutcracker”, by Tchaikovsky, and A Senhora D’aires, by Fernando Lopes Graças.