The University of Navarra has awarded its Silver Medal to 122 professionals in recognition of their 25 years of service at the academic center work . Seven of these professionals belong to IESE, and received the award last December at its headquarters in Barcelona.

submission Prior to the medal presentation, a Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated at the chapel of Amigos Building. The event, which took place in the Museum Theater, was presided over by the president, who pointed out that, along with remembering the past, this act is also "a great invitation to live the present moment with passion".

In his speech, he referred to Benedict XVI, who died last December and who, during his stay at the University of Navarra on the occasion of the submission of the doctorate honoris causa, said that he had found here "a climate of joy, of drive, of hope". "It is an invitation to raise our gaze, to seek that shared and exciting horizon for which we work. Our mission statement is of a greatness and impact that inspires; we are dedicated to teaching, researching, curing; what we do changes and improves the lives of people and society," said president. "Let us be, always, those people who create around them a climate of joy, of drive, of hope," she added.

In his visit, Cardinal Ratzinger also spoke of the spirit of openness he had found at the University. "A spirit that, in his words, 'is capable of finding something common in the endeavor to seek the truth and the good of the person,'" recalled Maria Iraburu. "We have here a call to be, also in difficult contexts, capable of that very necessary task: to find what unites, to overcome the limits that separate, to be always sensitive to the concerns and needs of the historical moment in which we live, to be ready to give the best of ourselves to make our own constructive, integrating contribution," she said.

In this regard, he referred to the field of healthcare, where the University has "the challenge and the extraordinary opportunity to show that maximum research quality and human warmth is possible and necessary" and, secondly, to sustainability. "We possess the opportunity to work -he stressed- in a way that looks to the long term deadline, that is aware of the impact on people and nature, that is both self-critical and hopeful, always ready to collaborate with others". 

Role models for future generations

The ceremony also included a speech by Dr. Matías Ávila, Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and director of the Hepatology Program at Cima University of Navarra, who spoke on behalf of the medalists. "Among the more than 120 workers who received the medal there are professionals from all fields, who have dedicated the best years of their working life to serve others from this institution. However, we know that our University is more than an academic community. In its institutional DNA is the vocation of service, Christian values and the culture of work well done".

"All of us who are receiving this medal today, regardless of our more or less direct involvement in academic activities, participate in this mission statement", he added.

Dr. Matías Ávila expressed his gratitude for the opportunity that this graduating class has had to participate in the extraordinary "epigenetic processes" that have occurred at the University during these 25 years: the birth of Cima, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Campus of Madrid, the Science Museum, the Institute for Culture and Society or the Biodiversity and Environment Instituteamong others. According to him, "great initiatives, accompanied by profound reforms of study plans and clinical-care procedures, are driving the University's academic model into the future, always keeping its genome free of mutations".