Honorary doctors: what are their stories?

| Michaela Nesvarova

The University of Twente will award four honorary doctorates at tomorrow’s Dies Natalis. The doctorates will go to former politician Neelie Kroes, MIT professor Hugh Herr, expert on microscope technology Christoph Gerber and statistician Edward Tufte. All of these soon-to-be honorary doctors are presenting inspirational lectures today at the UT.

The lectures are taking place this afternoon in the Waaier, starting at 14:15. During the presentations, the speakers will tell their personal and professional stories, shining light on what led up to them receiving the honorary doctorate at the UT. UT Nieuws has also personally interviewed all four of the honorary doctors. You can read the resulting stories in Dutch in the two latest issues of the UT Nieuws magazine and you can find the English versions on our website.

Read about the extraordinary life of Hugh Herr, expert on biomechatronics, who himself has lost both lower legs, and now wears self-designed bionic limbs. The Dutch version can be found in the November magazine, while the English article is online on our website.

One of professor Herr’s fellow honorary doctors is Christoph Gerber, a pioneer in the field of microscopy techniques on the atomic scale. If you prefer Dutch, look inside our magazine. English version is available here.

If you would prefer a woman’s point of view, dive into the UT Nieuws interview with Neelie Kroes, well-known politician and an ambassador for ‘Startup Delta’.

We also didn’t forget about the fourth person to receive the UT’s honorary doctorate tomorrow, Edward Tufte, American statistician and artist. You can read about his ideas and passions in an English article online or in a Dutch one in our October magazine.

Stay tuned

Sign up for our weekly newsletter.