The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, visited Bologna, Italy, on 12 May 2010, where he received a “Laurea ad Honorem in Chimica Industriale” (Honorary Doctorate in Industrial Chemistry) from the University of Bologna.
Speaking at the solemn award ceremony, Professor Ivano Dionigi, Rector of the University of Bologna and Professor Ferruccio Trifirò of the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry, recalled Ambassador Pfirter’s professional career and described his achievements as Director-General of the OPCW. Professor Franco Magelli, Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry, stated that the decision to bestow the Honorary Doctorate on Director-General Pfirter was taken in recognition of his tireless and successful work at the international level against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and for an effective ban on chemical weapons through promoting the full and effective implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
On his part, Ambassador Pfirter conveyed his deep gratitude to the University of Bologna, and recalled that, already in 2006, the University and the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna had also honoured him with the Sigillum of Alma Mater Studiorum and the Medal of Honour of Benedetto XIV. He stressed that he was receiving the Honorary Doctorate as a tribute to the values enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention and to the work of the OPCW for the implementation of this important treaty.
The award ceremony was preceded earlier in the day by an International Round-Table discussion organised in Ambassador Pfirter’s honour at the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna, entitled “Control of the World Chemical Production towards the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Strengthening of Chemistry at the Service of Humankind”. The roundtable was held under the auspices of the Italian National Authority for the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, with the Cooperation of the Italian Chemical Society and support of Biochimica S.p.A.. It featured presentations by Director-General Pfirter together with a number of eminent Italian authorities, academic representatives and experts in the field of chemistry.
OPCW NEWS 12/2010, 14 May 2010