Ceremony for the Award of the Title of Professor Emeritus and the Golden Plate of the University of Nova Gorica

Date of publication: 29. 9. 2021
News

On September 28, on the cusp of the new academic year, we awarded the title of Professor Emeritus and the Golden Plate of the University of Nova Gorica at the award ceremony held at the Lanthieri Mansion in Vipava.

Awardees and administration of the University of Nova Gorica. Photo: Miha Godec
Awardees and administration of the University of Nova Gorica. Photo: Miha Godec

Both the audience and the TV viewers were initially addressed by the keynote speaker, elementary particle physicist Prof. Dr. Boštjan Golob: “After 26 years of operation, the University of Nova Gorica dominates as the only university in the Goriška region and as one of the most successful institutions in Slovenia in the field of research. Over the course of its short institutional history, it has weathered many Bora winds and taken root as a native tree in the local environment. The institution itself could not have achieved this; this was made possible by the people who are its organic tissue. Bringing to bear their scientific and pedagogical excellence, the colleagues of the University have created an internationally recognized institution that offers a top-level education to domestic and foreign students that will help them on their professional path and in building a successful career.”

Prof. Dr. Golob pointed out in his address that he is standing before us today and for two more days as a professor of physics at the university somewhere behind Mount Nanos, but promised that he will do everything in his power in the future for UNG to continue its planned development and to become even more strongly rooted in this soil. “I am certain that the right path of development is to overcome the short-sightedness or narrow-mindedness of some actors in the Slovenian research and higher education space, which will require the commitment to excellent science, openness towards modern global scientific and technological space, international comparability and internationalization. We must overcome the well-known dilemma - the first in the village or the last in the city - and prove ourselves to be equal to the best in Europe,” he emphasized.

“Today's guests of honour, Prof. Dr. Miran Veselič and Mr. Ivo Boscarol, each did an outstanding job in their part of our common ecosystem. I am happy and proud that they have joined forces with our university – a university that has demonstrated its success and bold ideas in the field of green technologies. In the hope of their joint realisation, I thank and congratulate both award winners from the bottom of my heart,” said Prof. Dr. Golob at the end.

The title of Professor Emeritus of the University of Nova Gorica was awarded by the Rector of the University of Nova Gorica, Prof. Dr. Danilo Zavrtanik, to the distinguished Slovenian and internationally renowned expert in the field of hydrogeology, Prof. Dr. Miran Veselič, for for his outstanding contribution to the international reputation and development of the University of Nova Gorica, and his exemplary pedagogical and mentoring work.

Upon receiving the honorary title, Prof. Dr. Veselič expressed his gratitude for the award by saying: “This is my first academic title for which I neither applied nor ran, and the announcement of my election truly moved me and that feeling of gratitude remains with me to this day. From the very beginning, I believed in the exceptional importance and mission of the Polytechnic and the University of Nova Gorica. Anyone who knows and respects the history of this part of the Primorska region and the associated struggle of the people of Primorska for their ethnic essence, then the idea of the high school as an important place of education and culture must be a sacred one in this land ravaged by history. That is why I have always gladly responded to invitations to participate and felt it was my duty; initially through pedagogical work and later through participation in the Governing Board. Over the course of more than 25 years of its existence, the University of Nova Gorica has achieved a worldwide reputation and secured its place in the academic world. Beyond a shadow of doubt, you – its management and every member of its staff – are responsible for this success.”

The President of the Governing Board of the University of Nova Gorica, Borut Lavrič, presented the founder and director of the world-famous aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel, Ivo Boscarol, with the Golden Plate of the University of Nova Gorica for constructive participation in the research and the promotion of the build-up of the University of Nova Gorica infrastructure.

“I would like to thank you all very much for this extraordinary honour. I have been fighting my entire life to maintain values in entrepreneurship so that our employees, our customers and our suppliers can have a long-term relationship that is based on values. I am pleased that the University of Nova Gorica is also building its own story on these same values. You know, the best thing to forget is when something good has been achieved. That is to remember after twenty years how we transformed the Polytechnic into the University, how I motivated the politicians of that time, how I tried to convince the members of municipal councils that the University is necessary and that we needed the University. Building such values over an extended period means creating stories that we can all be proud of,” said Mr. Boscarol upon receiving the award.

“If you look at our Earth from space, you’ll see a thin blue band around it. That is our atmosphere. People can live a month without food, we can live weeks without water, but only a few minutes without air. And the University of Nova Gorica invests a lot of its energy in preserving the environment and is aware that – just like all of us together and each individual separately – we must do everything we can to preserve our environment as it is for future generations. Thank you for building your story on values,” concluded the recipient of the Golden Plate.

Congratulations to the two winners!

Andreja Leban, Public Relations

Professor Emeritus of the University of Nova Gorica, Prof. Dr. Miran Veselič. Photo: Miha Godec
Golden Plate of the University of Nova Gorica, Ivo Boscarol. Photo: Miha Godec
Prof. dr. Boštjan Golob, keynote speaker. Photo: Miha Godec
Ceremony for the Award of the Title of Professor Emeritus and the Golden Plate of the University of Nova Gorica. Photo: Miha Godec