Former UAB Ombudsman and honorary doctor Jordi Porta passes away
Jordi Porta passed away on 14 June 2023. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the UAB in 2013 and was appointed UAB Ombudsman from 2000 to 2009. The University wishes to express its deepest condolences to all those who knew and loved him and shares the profound sorrow of having lost such an important figure.
Jordi Porta i Ribalta (Barcelona, 1936-2023) graduated in Philosophy from the UB and did his postgraduate studies at the Université de Paris Ouest - Nanterre. Shortly afterwards, in 1971, he became director of the Jaume Bofill Foundation, an organisation dedicated to promoting the progress of knowledge by supporting education through different initiatives (studies, meetings, research, etc.), which he held until 2001.
In addition to being the director of the cultural association Òmnium Cultural, he directed the UNESCO Centre of Catalonia and other entities such as the Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, the Coordinadora Catalana de Fundacions and the Plataforma Cristianisme Segle XXI, and was a member of the editorial boards of the newspaper Avui and the publishing house Edicions 62. Among his published works are Anys de referència (1997) and El català, ara o mai (2005). In 2010 he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
His scientific contributions were particularly outstanding in the field of social sciences, especially in political sciences and sociology, and from the Bofill Foundation he gave intense support to the creation of the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology at the UAB in 1985. Porta's collaboration with the UAB continued with his membership of the Social Council between 1992 and 1998 and his appointment as Ombudsman, a post he held from 2000 to 2009.
Finally, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the UAB on 20 February 2013 for his "continued support for the development of social science research at Catalan universities and for his overall civic action and involvement in a wide range of social organisations". At the investiture ceremony, his sponsor, Professor Josep M. Vallès, said: "Three are the great arguments that the doctoral candidate's career provides me with for this speech: his role as a promoter of scientific knowledge, his career as a socially committed citizen and, finally, his institutional collaboration with our university".
The University expresses its heartfelt condolences to all those who knew and appreciated him and shares the sadness for his loss.
More information: Jordi Porta i Ribalta, honorary doctor of the UAB