Tatsuo Itoh, Timothy J. Kehoe and Francisco J. Ayala, UAB's newest honorary doctors

19/03/2015

The UAB Governing Council accepted the proposal for three new honorary doctors: engineer Tatsuo Itoh, economist Timothy Jerome Kehoe and biologist Francisco José Ayala. The university awards these honorary doctorates in recognition of the work carried out by three world renowned experts in their fields.

First 'Honorary Doctorate' of the School of Engineering

Tatsuo Itoh, professor of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is the first honorary doctor to be proposed by the School of Engineering. He is possibly without a doubt the most influential researcher today in the field of radio frequency and microwave engineering, as demonstrated by his 48 books and chapters, over 440 articles published, 80 theses directed, 10 patents and more than 32,000 citations according to Google Scholar.

Among his contributions, there is the design of communication circuits and metamaterial-based antennas, a field in which Dr Itoh is a trailblazer. His work has opened up a new paradigm in which the classic constituent elements of communication circuits are substituted by artificial lines inspired by metamaterials, thus offering features and functionalities which were unthinkable a few years back.

In addition, Dr Itoh has been a source of inspiration and a valuable collaborator for UAB researchers working in this research field; especially for the TECNIO centre and the CIMITEC group of the Department of Electronic Engineering.

A Long Relationship with the Faculty of Business and Economics

Dr Timothy Jerome Kehoe, PhD in Economics from Yale University and professor at the University of Minnesota, was proposed as honorary doctor by the Faculty of Business and Economics.

He has also taught at the University of Wesleyan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Cambridge University. In 1991 he was elected member of the Ecometric Society, one of the greatest honours which can be conferred onto an academic economist. He is a renowned specialist in dynamic macroeconomics. He works as a consultant for the US Federal Reserve and studies economic recessions. He has also given assessment to the governments of Spain, Mexico and Panama.

Kehoe has maintained an extended relation with the UAB Faculty of Business and Economics as visiting professor in 1983 and as the guest speaker at the inauguration of the 2012/13 academic year. He collaborates with the research institute MOVE (Markets, Organizations and Votes in Economics), was co-director of the Applied General Equilibrium Model (MEGA) and forms part of the Scientific Council of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.

Specialist in Evolutionary Biology

Dr Francisco José Ayala, professor of the University of California and winner of the 2010 Templeton Prize, was proposed to receive an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Biosciences.

Dr Ayala is specialist in evolutionary biology and is considered to be one of the most outstanding Spanish scientists of today. After graduating from Salamanca, he began his academic career in the United States and continues to work there. His research focuses on the molecular clock of evolution, the study of protein sequences with the aim of reconstructing evolutionary history. His group of research also studies a variety of subjects, including the origin and evolution of introns, pseudogenes and ectopic expression. Dr Ayala also has researched the origin of malaria and other parasitic diseases and is specialist in philosophy of biology, bioethics, the relation between science and religion and the teaching of evolutionary theory in schools.

The new honorary doctor has been a member or president of some of the most important scientific academies and associations, such as the National Academy of Science, and was also a consultant to former President Bill Clinton. In 2014, Dr Ayala gave a conference on the biology and culture of human animals entitled "¿Qué es el animal humano? Biología y cultura", at the UAB Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, as part of the 11th International Ontology Conference coordinated by Víctor Gómez Pin, professor of the Department of Philosophy.