“Social commitment is part of this institution’s DNA.” This was the driving idea behind the speech delivered by the Rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco García, as the closing address of the university’s Institutional Day celebrations this afternoon, Monday, March 11. In his speech, he acknowledged all the individuals and institutions recognized by the university and the association. ULL Alumni During the gala, but above all, he championed university values in a socio-political context that, more than ever, makes them necessary to promote community well-being.
“We live in strange times, in which the obvious must be defended,” the rector stated, paraphrasing Bertolt Brecht and listing several current concerns, from the environmental crisis to the rise in social inequality, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and gender-based violence and sexist discrimination. “For all these reasons,” he added, “university values remain more relevant than ever, 232 years after our founding, as a bulwark against so much barbarity, injustice, and populism.”.
Francisco García.
Remembering that the Latin root of “values” refers to the term «valere«, which means «to be strong, to be healthy or to have vigor», the rector asked his audience to renew the commitment of the academic institution to its essence: “the university community needs a strong University of La Laguna to be more ourselves, and to better serve our society; but the Canarian society also needs us healthy and strong to face the monumental challenges that lie ahead.
In his address, García recalled several crises that have marked the University of La Laguna throughout its more than two centuries of existence, including various periods of closure and reopening, the 20th-century world wars, the Spanish Civil War, the economic transformation of the 1960s due to the rise of tourism, the Transition to democracy, and the challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, pandemics, and technological advancements. “However,” he continued, “despite these radical transformations, here we are, 232 years later, remaining true to our values, doing what we do best and what justified our founding: generating and transmitting knowledge, transferring it to society, and upholding the spirit of the Enlightenment, justice, and humanism.”.
Institutional awards
María Candelaria Marín.
The first institutional award from the University of La Laguna presented during the ceremony was the one for Educational Innovation and Transfer, which in its thirteenth edition was declared void by the evaluation committee, although it decided to grant an honorable mention to the project “Problem-solving in Medicine: cooperative learning”, whose director, María Candelaria Marín González, went up on stage to collect it on behalf of his team.
David Díaz.
The Research Prize is divided into two categories. In the general category, which this year also reached its thirteenth edition, it was awarded to the professor of Organic Chemistry. David Díaz Díaz, while in the Junior category, intended for research staff born after January 1, 1984, it went to Arianna di Cintio, from the Department of Astrophysics.
Arianna di Cintio.
In both cases, the jury has assessed the quality of the research of both candidates at both a scientific and social level, its usefulness and interest for the socio-economic environment and its social impact and international repercussions.
Teresa Giráldez.
The 9th Internationalization Award recognizes the work of individuals and organizations that contribute to promoting the University of La Laguna abroad, taking into account factors such as having carried out activities with international impact and cooperating with other regions of the world. The Professor of Physiology was recognized in the individual category. Teresa Giráldez Fernández.
Jorge Méndez.
In the group category, the jury selected the SHIFT international conferences on light applications to renewable energies and biomedicine, as well as the international cooperation effort to recover the memory of the Canarian physicist Blas Cabrera. The award was accepted by the person responsible for both activities, a professor in the Applied Physics department. Jorge Méndez Ramos.
Mª José Dorta.
When it came time for the thirteenth edition of the Best Practices in Administration and Services Award, the highest-rated entity was the Office of International Relations for the improvement in the management of international aid from the Erasmus+ program, whose Head of European Programs Office, María José Dorta Hernández, was in charge of going on stage to collect the award.
Begoña López.
The jury also decided to award a runner-up prize to Sports Service for the improvement of the processing of student participation in national university championships, which was received by its head, Begoña López Rodríguez.
Daniel Hernandez.
In this 2024 edition of Institutional Day, two new awards have been introduced. The first of these, the Academic Merit Award, recognizes those who have obtained the highest scores in the undergraduate and master's degree excellence awards during the 2022-23 academic year.
Alejandro Rodríguez
In the Bachelor's category, the award went to Daniel Hernández Peña, a graduate in Economics, and in the Master's category, to Alejandro Rodríguez González, who completed the postgraduate course in Chemistry at the academic institution.
Pilar Matud.
The second of the new awards, the Educational Excellence Award, recognizes teachers from different areas of knowledge who meet, among other requirements, having obtained an "Excellent" rating in the institutional teaching evaluation process.
Esperanza Ceballos.
Thus, in Health Sciences the award winner was the professor in the area of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment Pilar Matud Aznar; in Social Sciences and Law, the professor in the Department of Didactics and Educational Research Esperanza Ceballos Vacas; and in Engineering and Architecture, the professor from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutical Technology Karina Elvira Rodríguez Espinoza.
Karina Elvira Rodríguez.
The Science and Arts and Humanities categories were left vacant in this edition.
Finally, the University of La Laguna decided to award its Patronage Prize, which each year honors companies and institutions whose commitment to the center
Rodolfo Núñez and Héctor Reboso.
The academic aspect is manifested through relevant collaborative actions, and it fell to the business group Binter, whose president and CEO, Rodolfo Núñez Ruano, and the director of Binter Sistemas, Héctor Reboso Morales, went up on stage to receive the corresponding trophy from the rector.
ULL Alumni Awards
Luis Ortigosa
The first part of the gala focused on the presentation of awards organized by the Alumni ULL association. During his address, its president, Luis Ortigosa Castillo, praised the association's contribution to the university and reiterated the commitment of the organization he leads to the institution since its founding in 2001. He also addressed the armed conflicts in both Ukraine and Palestine, and noted that in 2027 the University of La Laguna will celebrate the centenary of its modern era, following its reopening in 1927. He expressed his willingness to collaborate in organizing events worthy of the occasion.
Sandra Simancas
The award for Best Academic Record of the 2022-23 course, endowed with 1,000 euros, went to Sandra Simancas Punzón, a graduate in Early Childhood Education, who had given birth a few days earlier and went up on stage with her baby.
Group photo of the award winners in this category
The awards for the best Master's theses of the 2020-21 academic year, each endowed with 600 euros and the support of the "la Caixa" Foundation, were given, in Arts and Humanities, to Catalina Solís Ceballos, from the Master's in Gender Studies and Equality Policies, for the work "The Teaching Guides of the Degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of La Laguna: An Analysis with a Gender Perspective"; in Sciences, to Alejandro Rodríguez González (Master's in Chemistry) for "«Smart materials for thin film microextraction”; in Health Sciences, in Alejandra Bárbara Machado Fernández (Master in General Health Psychology) for “Prevalence of depressive symptomatology and syndrome of burnout in the prodromal phase of multiple sclerosis and its association with diagnostic delay”; in Social and Legal Sciences, in Claudia Torres Martín (Master in Teacher Training) for “Looking with both eyes. An approach to the museum from the other perspective”; and in Engineering and Architecture, in Itziar Rizo Liendo, (Master in Management and Technological Innovation in Construction) for “BIM Modeling in Blender: Use of BlenderBIM and Archipack”.
Eduardo Gestido
The 21st José Luis García Pérez Human Values Award, worth €1,500 and awarded in collaboration with Cajasiete, was granted to the Informa project, a legal guidance and solidarity service. Through this project, law students from the University of La Laguna, mentored by professionals, provide information and assistance to vulnerable groups with limited access to legal advice, such as migrants and people with disabilities, on matters such as housing, consumer issues, and social benefits. Eduardo Gestido Castilla accepted the award, accompanied by several members of his team.
Jacob Lorenzo.
The XIV Alonso de Nava Grimón Prize, an honorary award given to individuals associated with the University of La Laguna who stand out for their work, critical and conciliatory spirit, and contribution to the community, was awarded jointly to Jacob Lorenzo Morales, The award was given to the current director of the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands for his achievements in these scientific fields, and to José Alberto Galván Tudela for his contribution to Anthropology in the Canary Islands with an academic career that spanned 42 years until his retirement. Professor Grecy Pérez Amores accepted the award on his behalf.
Elvira Afonso.
Furthermore, during the ceremony, Rector Rosa Aguilar Chinea was named an Honorary Member of the association. The honoree was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, and former Secretary General Elvira Afonso spoke in her place, congratulating the university community "for the growth of this public institution that contributes to the sustainable development of the Canary Islands.".
During the gala there was also time for a musical interlude between the two parts into which the ceremony was divided, performed by the Polyphonic Choir of the University of La Laguna, which is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year.
ULL Polyphonic Choir.
Two videos were also shown:“What was news in 2023”, prepared by the Communications Office, which served as the starting point of the evening, and a memorial in memoriam of the people in the community who died in 2023.
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