Dr Valentín Fuster and Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls (2010)

On 6 May 2010, as proposed by the Board of Governors, the University Board approved the awarded doctor honoris causa to two doctors of international prestige: Dr Valentín Fuster and Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

Dr Fuster is a universally renown cardiologist both for his scientific contributions in this field and for his concern for the health of the general population and in particular, for cardiovascular risk prevention. He is also known for his great humanistic sensitivity and cooperates with many non-profit institutions, striving for a better world.

Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls, psychiatrist and journalist, was director of the Holy See Press Office between 1984 and 2006, where he distinguished himself in his role of bringing the messages of the Holy Father John Paul II to the world, especially during his world travels and during the most critical or conflicting situations.

Valentín Fuster Carulla was born in Cardona (Catalonia, Spain) on 20 January 1943. He graduated and earned a PhD in Medicine from the University of Barcelona and, in the 1970s, moved to the United States, where he spent several years at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, first as a resident and later as a professor of medicine and specialist in cardiology.

In 1981, he became head of cardiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. From 1991 to 1994, he was a Professor of Medicine with Mallinckrodt Professorship at Harvard Medical School and head of cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

He returned to Mount Sinai in 1994 as Director of the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health and is currently Director and Physician-in-Chief of the Cardiology Unit at Mount Sinai.

He is General Director of the Carlos III National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Madrid, of which he was scientific chair.

Among his innumerable distinguished positions are:

• Former president of the American Hospital Association (AHA) Choir Association.
• Former president of the World Heart Federation (WHF).
• Member of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences, where he chairs the committee for the Prevention of the Global Epidemic in Heart Disease.
• Former member of the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Advisory Council (NHLBI).
• Former president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Training Program.
• He has been named doctor honoris causa by 34 universities around the world, one of which is the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya on 6 May 2010.
• First Marques of Fuster: awarded by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, on 13 May 2014

Some publications and distinctions

He has published more than 790 articles on Pubmed on coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis and thrombosis, and has been editor-in-chief of two of the most important cardiology textbooks: The Heart (previously edited by Dr J. Willis Hurst) and Atherothrombosis and Coronary Artery Disease (with Dr Eric Topol and Dr Elizabeth Nabel).

Dr Fuster has been appointed editorial director of the journal Nature, which focuses on cardiovascular medicine (Nature Reviews, Cardiology, April 2009), and is editor of the new AHA Guidelines and Scientific Statements Handbook and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), the leading source of clinical information in cardiovascular medicine and the main publication of the American College of Cardiology.

Valentín Fuster is the only cardiologist to have received the top two gold medals and four research awards from the four major cardiovascular organisations:

• Distinguished Researcher Award (Inter-American Society of Cardiology, 2005 and 2009).
• Andreas Gruntzig Scientific Prize and Gold Medal (European Society of Cardiology, 1992 and 2007).
• Gold Medal and Distinguished Scientist (American Heart Association, 2001 and 2003).
• Distinguished Scientist Award (American College of Cardiology, 1993).

In addition, he has received the Lewis A. Conner Memorial Award from the American Heart Association, the James B. Herrick Award from the American Heart Association Council of Clinical Cardiology, and the 1996 Principe de Asturias Award for Science and Technology (the highest prize awarded to Spanish-speaking scientists).

In 2008, he was awarded the Kurt Polzer prize for his research on cardiovascular events from the European Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In March 2009, he received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the American College of Cardiology and in June was awarded the International Prize for Scientific Research Arrigo Recordati for his work in the development of cardiovascular imaging.

Joaquin Navarro-Valls (Cartagena, Spain, 16 November 1936 - Rome, Italy, 5 July 2017) began his primary studies at Deutsche Schule and his advanced studies at the medical faculties of the universities of Granada and Barcelona and journalism at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Navarra. International Seminar Fellow, Harvard University, USA.

He finished his studies in medicine and surgery with excellent results in 1961 and later took the doctoral courses on the topic “Psychiatric disorders in brain traumas”. He was an assistant at the Faculty of Medicine and in charge of the Polyclinic Service in Medical Pathology. In 1968, he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and in 1980, a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences.

He was a founding member and deputy director of the magazine DIAGONAL (Barcelona). Foreign correspondent of Nuestro Tiempo. From 1979 to 1984, he was a foreign correspondent for Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Israel, Algeria and Turkey) for the ABC newspaper in Madrid. As special envoy, he covered the countries of Equatorial Africa, Japan and the Philippines.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Foreign Press Association in Italy (1979), of which he was elected president in 1983 and 1984.

From 1984 to 2006, he was director of the Holy See Press Office.

He was a member of the Holy See Delegation to the United Nations International Conferences in Cairo (1994), Copenhagen (1995), Beijing (1995) and Istanbul (1996).

He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Maruzza Lefebvre d’Ovidio Foundation for terminal oncology patients (1996-2001).

He was visiting scholar at the Faculty of Institutional Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome from 1996.

He participated as speaker and panellist in national and international conferences on psychiatry and in countless conferences on journalism and communication techniques.

He was President of the Advisory Board of the Università Campus Bio-Medico in Rome, and President of the Telecom Italia Foundation.

He published several books: La manipulación publicitaría, Barcelona 1970; La familia y lo mundo actual, Barcelona 1976; La familia y la educación, Caracas, 1978; Fumata Blanca, Madrid 1978.

In 2009, he published in Italy A paso de uomo, ed. Mondadori, which was on the best-seller list in the essay section for eleven weeks.

He spoke Spanish, English, French and Italian.

The following are among the different recognitions and awards he received:

• C. Peña Award for Medicine, by competition, 1962.
• Opinione Leader Journalistic Award, 1980.
• Gargano Award, 1984.
• Calabria Award for Foreign Journalism, 1984.
• Laurel Award, 1985, Press Association, Murcia.
• Ischia Award for International Journalism, 1985.
• Reporter of the Year Award, Telecom, Italy, 1997.
• Maya International Award, Italy, 1999.
• Grande Crisol Award, Spain, 2000.
• Penna de oro Award 2005, Italy, 2005.
• Saint Vincent di Giornalismo Award, Italy, 2005.
• Ernest Hemingway Award, Europe, Italy, 2005.
• Barocco Award, Italy, 2005;
• Vale di Sole Award, Italy, 2005;
• Liberal Alla Carrera Award, Italy, 2005;
• Capri San Michele Award for Journalism, Italy, 2005;
• Giuseppe Sciacca International Award for Communication, Italy, 2005;
• Luka Brajnovic Award, Spain, 2005.
• Giorgio La Pira International Prize for Peace, Culture and Solidarity, Italy, 2005.
• Capo Circeo Award for Italian-German Friendship, Italy, 2005.
• UCSI Award for Communication, Italy, 2005.
• Sirmione Catullo alla carriera Award, Italy, 2006.

International honours:

• Grosse Silberne Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich, Austria, 1987.
• Commander of the Order of the Polar Star, Sweden, 1992.
• Gran Oficial de la Orden Bernardo O’Higgins, Republic of Chile, 1993.
• Grande Ufficiale al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 1993;
• Gran Cruz de la Orden Nacional al Mérito, Paraguay, 1995;
• Gran Cruz de la Orden al Mérito Civil, Spain, 1997;
• Gran Oficial de la Orden del Libertador San Martín, Argentina, 1997.
• Cavaliere and Grande-Croce dell’Ordie di S. Gregorio Magno, Vatican City, 2003.
• Gran Cruz de Isabel la Católica, Spain, 2003.
• Cruz con Estrella, Orden del Merito della Repubblica Polaca, 2006.