The University of Navarra pays tribute to Professor Clara Fernández Ladreda, in gratitude for a career spanning more than 40 years.

The School Philosophy Letters at the University of Navarra held a tribute to Professor Clara Fernández-Ladreda on the occasion of her retirement after more than four decades dedicated to teaching, research university service. The meeting, held in the classroom of Central Building, brought together academic authorities, colleagues, students, alumni friends to recognize her career.

The event was presided over by the dean of the School, Julia Pavón, who defined the meeting as a formal farewell, but as a grateful celebration of an academic life lived with authenticity, rigor, and generosity." In the dean's words, Fernández-Ladreda is "a woman without a mask, direct and luminous, whose personality is reflected equally in her professional and stafflife, staffand whose sense of humor—compared to that of G. K. Chesterton—"does not disguise ideas, but illuminates them."

The first presentation was position art historian Francesca Español, from the University of Barcelona, who addressed the scientific dimension of the honoree. Español highlighted the continuity and solidity of her research output and her decisive contribution to knowledge medieval art in Navarre, always contextualized within the framework . "It is one thing to study Navarrese art from Navarre and quite another to place it within the great currents of Western art; Clara has done the latter with rigor and originality," she said. In her opinion, Professor Fernández-Ladreda "leaves the knowledge medieval art in Navarre in very good shape, with keys that place it in the international sphere." Español also wanted to emphasize the staff dimension staff the honoree: "Along with her indisputable intellectual value, everyone recognizes her friendliness and approachability, something that her students have always unanimously perceived."

Santiaga Hidalgo, PhD from the University of Navarra and currently working in international cooperation, then took the floor. Based on a text by St. Augustine on Christian virtues, Hidalgo defined Fernández-Ladreda with one core topic word: "humility." "If you ask me about Professor Fernández-Ladreda, I would say that her foremost virtue is humility, which precedes and accompanies all her actions," she said. From a testimonial perspective, she recalled her experience as a student and doctoral candidate and the decisive influence of her thesis advisor thesis "Because of the passion with which she taught, her enthusiasm and the pleasure she took in transmitting knowledge, many of us were lucky enough to fall into the pot of medieval art." Hidalgo also highlighted her teacher's ability to accompany non-linear trajectories: "She knew how to guide me while allowing me to construct my own reflection; without her, my thesis would thesis have seen the light of day." For the speaker, this attitude can be summed up as "an extraordinary openness to others, which is only possible through humility."

The laudatio was delivered by Professor Asunción Domeño, from School department , who gave a detailed account of Professor Fernández-Ladreda's life and academic career, from her arrival at the University of Navarra as a student in 1975 to her consolidation as one of the leading specialists in medieval art in the ancient Kingdom of Navarre.

Domeño highlighted the combination of high standards and approachability that has always characterized her work as professor: "Demanding of herself and her students, but always approachable, to the point of becoming a second mother to many." In terms researcher, he emphasized that she is "one of the people who knowledge contributed the most knowledge about Navarre's artistic heritage," with particular relevance in the study of Marian imagery, medieval crucifixes, and, most notably, the cloister of Pamplona Cathedral. "Her work has work only increased knowledge , but has also contributed decisively to the conservation of heritage," he said, recalling her role in raising awareness of the deterioration of the cathedral cloister and its subsequent restoration. Domeño concluded by highlighting her human qualities: "Intellectual honesty, generosity, tenacity, and deep empathy for the difficulties of others."

Visibly moved, Clara Fernández-Ladreda focused her speech on gratitude. "This event is about taking stock of a lifetime, and in my case, that journey is largely the result an institution and many people," she said. With her characteristic humor, she recalled her early years as a student, her beginnings as a teacher, and the difficulties—and lessons learned—along the academic path. "The University of Navarra has truly been my alma mater," she said, recalling that she has spent "50 of the 70 years" of her life there. She expressly thanked her teachers, colleagues, students, and the staff and service staff : "Without students, a professor's career is nothing," she said. She also had words of remembrance for her parents and her uncle Alfonso Nieto, former President the university, to whom she attributed her arrival at the academic center. Professor Fernández-Ladreda concluded with a wish for those in attendance: "I hope that when you reach the end of your professional careers, you can say that they have been as happy as mine and that you are surrounded by such wonderful people."

The event concluded with the screening of a video reviewing his time at the University and closing remarks from the dean, who emphasized that this tribute "is not a farewell speech, but rather a grateful celebration of shared ideas, a work done, and a deeply human way of understanding academic life."