On Wednesday, January 8 the renowned Haitian mathematician Lionel Thibault was awarded with the Doctor Honoris Causa medal. His extensive career of over three decades and research development support provided to the Department of Mathematical Engineering at FCFM (Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences), has earned him the highest distinction awarded by the U. of Chile.
The ceremony, held at FCFM’s Gorbea Auditorium, honored the renowned professor Lionel Thibault with the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, which is given to those with merit or outstanding actions in benefit, either of Chile or humanity and who have excelled at national or international level in their area.
On the occasion, Prof. Rafael Correa, academician at the Department of Mathematical Engineering and researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the U. of Chile, said that “Prof. Thibault is one of the most prominent collaborators in the mathematical field of variational analysis and an example of a mathematician and researcher.”
“The extensive and outstanding curriculum of prof. Thibault proves that he has contributed to the highest level of mathematics, performing countless academic activities, guiding numerous theses, several of them of Chilean students, and has published over 110 scientific articles, in which he has worked with researchers from the most prestigious universities in the world.”
In the same vein, the Vice President of Financial and Institutional Management Affairs of U. of Chile, Francisco Martínez, said that “the cooperation extended to our institution, and encouragement towards the development of the Department of Mathematical Engineering of this Faculty, together with its international recognition, make Professor Lionel Thibault a worthy recipient of this Honoris Causa medal”.
Professor Lionel Thibault, who gave a lecture on his collaboration with Chile, was excited by the recognition and took the opportunity to thank all of his professors and collaborators who helped in his formation. He also acknowledged the work of his colleagues with whom he started work in the nineties, reinforcing the ties between Chile and France.
“I came to Chile for the first time in 1998, when the Department of Mathematical Engineering occupied only one floor of a building, and many colleagues returned from studying abroad to form the CMM, which nowadays for me is one of the most important research centers of the world,” said Thibault, who currently serves as a professor at the University of Montpellier, France.
About his future projects, Professor Thibault said he recently participated in the second version of the International Conference on Variational Analysis and Optimization, organized by CMM, where “I had the chance to share ideas with my colleagues, and I hope that new research projects materialize the next time I return to this beautiful country.”
Source: Comunicaciones FCFM – original article
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