Two individuals who played significant roles in the legacy of FinVector, namely Dr. Frederik Paulsen and Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, were granted honorary doctorates from two esteemed Finnish universities this spring. An honorary doctorate is the highest recognition a university can give to a person.
Dr. Frederik Paulsen, Emeritus Chairman of the Ferring Group, was awarded dual honorary doctorates by two esteemed academic institutions. The first of these is to be conferred by the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Oulu, while the second will be awarded by the University of Lapland, recognizing Dr. Paulsen as an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy.
Dr. Paulsen was Chairman of Ferring’s Board of Directors from 1988 to June 2021, and was named Chairman Emeritus in July 2021. In addition to Ferring, Dr. Paulsen devotes time to his passions: polar exploration and climate change science. As one of the few people to have stood on all eight of the Earth’s poles, Dr Paulsen has a deep historical and scientific interest in polar exploration and is a founding member of the Swiss Polar Institute. He also serves as the chairman of the board for UArctic ry, a registered organization in Finland. Additionally, he is involved in several charitable projects, including support for Arctic cooperation and research.
Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, an internationally renowned gene therapy researcher, a molecular medicine professor at the University of Eastern Finland and one of the original founders of FinVector, was conferred an honorary doctorate at the University of Oulu and the Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. He has been awarded the most prestigious research funding in Finland and Europe several times. He is currently in charge of the GeneCellNano flagship programme of the University of Oulu, the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service. Throughout his career, Ylä-Herttuala has actively promoted the application of research results to clinical practice and was the first in the world to use virus-mediated gene transfer on human blood vessels.
The University of Oulu awards honorary doctorates to internationally distinguished individuals who have contributed significantly to research collaborations with the university’s researchers. Additionally, honorary doctorates are granted to individuals who have made other notable contributions to society and the university’s operations.
The University of Lapland confers honorary doctoral degrees to persons who have developed our research and education, advanced international collaboration or promoted Lapland’s culture and business life.