8 June 2022

Thomas Rades is Honorary Doctor at University of Helsinki

Appointments

At the end of May, Professor Thomas Rades from Department of Pharmacy was appointed as Honorary Doctor at the University of Helsinki.

Thomas Rades Honorary Doctor
Doctor Kirsten Gräser (left), Dean Jaakko Kangasjärvi (middle), and Honorary Doctor Thomas Rades (right) are performing the ceremonial sword whetting where champagne is used. Photo by Eveliina Mustonen.

The appointment took place at Promootio, a ceremony that is a few hundred years old, and was held this time for the 99th time. Promootio is an event that has a very strict dress code, at least for the men, with tailcoats and tophats, and the celebration continues for 4 days.

An important ritual at the event is the Sword-whetting Dinner of the Conferment of the Faculty of Philosophy. Here, Doctor Kirsten Gräser, Dean Jaakko Kangasjärvi and Honorary Doctor Thomas Rades performed the ceremonial sword whetting where champagne is used instead of water.

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