Liverpool Hope University has presented Vice-Chancellor of Lille Catholic University, Pierre Giorgini, with an honorary degree. He received the award of Doctor of Education on Thursday 20th July at a ceremony at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.
Pierre Giorgini began his career at the National Institute for Telecommunications Executives at Villeneuve d’Ascq, and has a long career in technology education. In the 1990s he created LASER, The Laboratory for Building Systems of Shared Teaching, and invented and developed the Visiocentre, the first system of teaching connecting multiple lecture theatres with automatic piloting of the student/teacher relationship.
Between 1999 and 2003, he worked for the National Employment Agency where he became Deputy CEO for Human Resources at the national level. From 2003 to 2006, he was Director in Charge of Orange Innovation, responsible for Management and Human Resources. In 2007, he joined Lille Catholic University. In 2009, he became Vice-President of the Science and Technology Sector. In 2012, he was elected as Vice-Chancellor of Lille Catholic University and Rector of the six Faculties.
He said: “I am proud and happy for three reasons about the honour your university is giving me...The first reason is the wonderful convergence of values between our universities based on the Christian conception of mankind. It’s a living concept embodied in the way our universities are run. The way we take part in this experience shows the extraordinary modernity of the Christian message, which ceaselessly will advance the world as we reach out to our God.
“The second reason finds its source in the admiration and respect that I have for my friend Professor Pillay. He is more than committed to working for peace and mutual understanding between people. Within a vision which permanently moves towards a greater humanity, the process of humanisation is ongoing, and whilst numerous storm clouds are gathering, warning us of a post humanity which may become sub humanity, we need those men and women who believe and act against these trends so that it will become a full humanity.
“Finally the third reason is the strength and richness of our partnership. The fact that this honorary doctorate is being awarded by the Faculty of Education strengthens even more solidly the backbone of our alliance: ceaselessly working to transmit the meaning of what has gone before, respect for tradition, and at the same time, creativity and imagination for the future."
Pierrre Giorgini spoke about the constant changes that technology brings, and the need to equip graduates to go out into the world and be ready to embrace those changes and use them for good. He discussed how the traditional paradigms have been blown to pieces, and our conceptions of space, time are being transformed and shaken up.
“We must ask ourselves how to fulfil our primary mission to accompany you, young people, as you gain your liberty and your autonomy. That means your ability to think for yourself, to be more significant than the things that appear to determine your fate on the biological or cultural planes. The question is, how to facilitate your access to autonomy in a society whose future is harder to predict in a more complex world.”
He then spoke about how Hope and Lille and looking at new methods of teaching to help equip students for that new, complex future by looking at how they use spaces and technology, for the benefit of humanity.
Professor Gerald Pillay, Vice Chancellor and Rector of Liverpool Hope University said: “Pierre has dedicated his career to using technology to improve university education around the world. He has also used his skills and knowledge to ensure that families, charities and children from less well-off backgrounds are not excluded from the opportunities that technology brings, and its power to change lives. As Rector and Vice Chancellor of Lille Catholic University, he is again leading the way in using technology to help universities make the maximum impact on the world around them. Liverpool Hope is excited to work alongside such a forward-thinking university as Lille Catholic University, and we are delighted to formally welcome Pierre Giorgini into the university as a Doctor of Education (honoris causa).”