Dies Natalis 2026

In the Ufo building, but also via livestream

The academic ceremony with the presentation of the honorary doctorates takes place on Friday 20 March at 15:30 in auditorium Leon De Meyer, Ufo building, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 33, Ghent.

The ceremony can also be followed via livestream on this page, with an English simultaneous interpreter.

The presentation of the institutional honorary doctorate to Bashir Abdi will take place on Sunday 8 March 2026, at approximately 11:15 during the Bashir's Run running event at the Wouter Weylandt Stadium in Gentbrugge.

Meet the honorary doctors 2026

On the occasion of Dies Natalis, Ghent University will award six honorary doctorates. Based on social merits, we will award an institutional honorary doctorate to Mr. Bashir Abdi. In addition, six honorary doctorates will be awarded based on scientific merits.

An institutional title for: Mr. Bashir Abdi

Socially engaged and socially conscious marathon runner, European record holder, Olympic silver and bronze medalist (Belgium)
Promotors: Rector Petra De Sutter and Vice-Rector Herwig Reynaert

Bashir Abdi (born 1989, Mogadishu) is an internationally renowned athlete and an inspiring figure in the world of sports. He achieved great fame as a long-distance runner and is considered one of the most successful Belgian athletes of recent decades. His performances at the highest level, combined with his social engagement, make him an exceptional role model.

Bashir Abdi came to Belgium as a refugee at a young age and grew up in Ghent, where he developed his passion for athletics. The city also plays a significant role in his social engagement. Abdi is the co-founder of Sportaround, an organization that uses sports to promote social cohesion and health. He also co-founded the Bashir Abdi Fund with Ghent University Hospital, which funds initiatives to support healthcare providers physically and mentally. These activities illustrate how Bashir Abdi uses his success to create social value in his home city and elsewhere.

Bashir Abdi made Belgian sporting history with his Olympic triumphs: in Tokyo (2021), he won the bronze medal in the marathon, and at the most recent Olympic Games in Paris (2024), he won silver. He also set the European marathon record in 2021 and achieved several victories and honorary placings in international competitions.

Rector Petra De Sutter and Vice-Rector Herwig Reynaert are acting as promotors for Bashir Abdi as a future honorary doctor of Ghent University: “Ghent University is particularly proud to welcome Bashir Abdi as an honorary doctor to our community. Bashir's athletic achievements are undeniable, but he is also a role model for many in society. Sport connects, motivates, and allows you to excel: Bashir is a prime example of this. The values ​​he exemplifies—inclusion, social engagement, and the pursuit of excellence—are also those of Ghent University.”

Bashir Abdi has already received several awards for his achievements, including the National Trophy for Sports Merit (2021) and the Flemish Sports Jewel (2024). He is internationally recognized as an inspiring role model for perseverance and integration. By awarding this institutional honorary doctorate, Ghent University wishes to honor not only his exceptional sporting achievements but also his role as an inspiration and bridge-builder in a diverse society.

Professor Vishva Dixit

Vice President Early Discovery Research, Genentech - Senior Fellow of Physiological Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco (United States)
Promotors: Professor Peter Vandenabeele and Professor Mohamed Lamkanfi, Faculty of Sciences

Professor Dixit's groundbreaking research on cell death and inflammation in the body has influenced scientists worldwide for decades in the fields of immunology, cancer, inflammation, and molecular cell biology. In particular, he and his research group have made fundamental contributions to better understanding the function and impact of TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor). This opens up prospects for improved treatment and cures for many diseases and inflammations in the human body.

Professor Jean Bennett

Professor of Ophthalmology & Vice Chair for Basic Research, Scheie Eye Institute - Director Center for Advanced Retinal and Ophthalmic Therapeutics, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (United States)
Promotors: Professor Elfride De Baere and Professor Bart Leroy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Professor Bennett is a world-renowned pioneer in gene therapy for hereditary blindness. Professor Bennett's exceptional career is characterized by a consistent integration of basic, translational, and clinical research. For example, she developed a specific gene therapy that restores vision in patients with congenital blindness due to a genetic cause, a major breakthrough in medicine. With her research, Professor Bennett has restored sight to patients with hereditary blindness worldwide.

Professor Ingrid Baroness Daubechies

James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (United States)
Promotors: Professor Aleksandra Pizurica and Professor Hendrik De Bie, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture

Professor Daubechies, a Belgian-American mathematician and physicist, is one of the most renowned and influential scientists of our time in the field of applied mathematics and engineering. She is affiliated with Duke University as the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. In the 1980s, Professor Daubechies pioneered wavelet theory and developed Daubechies wavelets: efficient basis functions that significantly advanced harmonic analysis and signal and image processing. Her work on wavelet design also laid the mathematical foundation for JPEG 2000 image compression and contributed to time-frequency methods used, among other things, in the detection of gravitational waves.

Besides her remarkable scientific achievements, Professor Daubechies is deeply committed to inspiring future generations of students and researchers in mathematics and engineering.

Professor Marianne Bertrand

Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business - Pritzker Director of the Inclusive Economy Lab, University of Chicago Urban Labs, Chicago (United States)
Promotor: Professor Stijn Baert, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Marianne Bertrand conducts research in labor economics, with areas including political economy, and is the highest-ranked Belgian in the world in the IDEAS ranking of economists by scientific impact. Professor Bertrand is the founder of the current gold-standard method for measuring discrimination in the labor market, which was later further refined at Ghent University. Her work captures the imagination as it consistently exposes inequalities in a more vivid and substantiated way than ever before. For example, she demonstrated a remarkable "bend" in how wages are distributed within male-female families: as long as the man earns more, almost any ratio is possible, but earning exactly the same appears to be a psychological threshold that is crossed much less often. In other words, families where the woman earns slightly less are much more common than families where the woman earns slightly more. This pattern points to a deeply ingrained norm: "a man should earn more than his wife."

Professor Edward Deci and Professor Richard Ryan

Edward Deci (left), Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology - Helen F. & Fred H. Gowen Professor Social Sciences - Director human motivation program, University of Rochester, New York (United States)

Richard Ryan (right), Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney (Australia) - Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, New York - Director Center for Self-Determination Theory, Celebration, Florida (United States)

Promotors: Professor Maarten Vansteenkiste and Professor Bart Soenens, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Professors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan are the founders of Self-Determination Theory: for five decades, both researchers have systematically developed, refined, and disseminated the theory. Self-Determination Theory posits that a limited number of basic psychological needs—autonomy, relatedness, and competence—are universal and essential for human motivation, growth, and well-being.

Around the world, schools, sports clubs, therapeutic settings, and organizations are inspired by the insights of Self-Determination Theory. In Flanders, Ghent University's well-being policy is an example of this. The research work of Professors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan has a global impact.

Professor Richard Katz

Professor Emeritus and Academy Professor, Department of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (United States)
Promotor: Professor Bram Wauters, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences

Professor Richard Katz's research led to the influential concept of the "cartel party." This describes how political parties increasingly become part of the state apparatus (including through government funding) while simultaneously losing touch with society. The idea of ​​the "cartel party" became a milestone in political science and is now standard material in many textbooks. Professor Katz also made important contributions to political science, including candidate selection and the changing organization of political parties in Europe and North America.

Dies Natalis at Ghent University

Every year, on the penultimate Friday of March, Ghent University celebrates its Dies Natalis or birthday with a solemn session and the presentation of honorary doctorates. Contrary to what you might think, this celebration is a fairly recent ritual.

Read more about the history of our Dies Natalis (in Dutch)