Conferment Doctoral Degrees

The ceremonial conferment (¨doktorspromotion¨ in Swedish¨) is an academic celebration, where doctors and honorary doctors are being conferred. The Swedish word for conferment, promotion, is derived from the Latin verb promovere: to promote, to move forward. The conferment of doctoral degrees is one of the most traditional academic ceremonies. All who received their post-doctoral degrees in the past five years will an invitation to accept their traditional doctoral hat and diploma and to attend the following gala dinner.  

The ceremonial tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. The first conferment ceremony in Finland took place in 1643 at the former Royal Academy of Åbo. For Hanken School of Economics, the next conferment ceremony in 2024 will be the 13th conferment ceremony.

The first conferment ceremony at Hanken took place in 1953 in connection with the inauguration of the building at Arkadiankatu 22. During that ceremony, the school’s first doctoral degree was conferred on Axel Grandell, as well as five honorary doctoral degrees. Between 1953 and 2019 the school has conferred 312 doctoral and 64 honorary doctoral degrees. 

Honorary doctors

At the conferment ceremony Honorary Doctorates are being conferred in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements or cultural and societal activities.  

At the conferment ceremony in 2019 honorary doctorates in recognition of academic achievements were conferred upon:  

Mary Jo Bitner

Professor Emeritus of Marketing
Arizona State University

Tore Ellingsen

Professor of Economics
Stockholm School of Economics

Martha S. Feldman

Professor of Social Ecology, Political Science, Business, and Sociology
University of California, Irvine

Bjørn Nybo Jørgensen

Professor of Accounting and Financial Management
London School of Economics

Seppo Pynnönen

Professor of Statistics
University of Vaasa

At the conferment ceremony in 2019 honorary doctorates in recognition of succesful and long-lasting careers in business and society were conferred upon:  

Ilkka Brotherus

Chairperson
Sinituote

Jannica Fagerholm

Managing Director
The Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation

Kersti Kaljulaid

President of the Republic of Estonia

Kalle Löövi

Director of International Operations
The Finnish Red Cross

Jan Vapaavuori

Mayor City of Helsinki

A list of all Honorary Doctors 1953 - 2014 can be found here.