Jönköping University appoints three honorary doctors

Three new honorary doctors have been appointed by JU’s President Agneta Marell. Professor B.M Golam Kibria, Christer Davidsson and Sven-Eric Stenfors will be conferred at the university’s Academic Ceremony on 8 October.

Honorary Doctor is a title awarded to people who have significantly contributed to the development of research and education at Jönköping University (JU).

B.M. Golam Kibria is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Florida International University (FIU), USA. He received his doctorate in statistics from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada and has published approximately 235 research articles in renowned statistics journals and has co-authored two books. Dr. Kibria has contributed to the development of his research field, both at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) and internationally. Over the past decade, he has been involved in doctoral education and supervision at JIBS, where he has contributed to the development of previous doctoral students as a co-author of articles and as a mentor. Professor Kibria has been an informal academic leader for the discipline of statistics and his time and work have contributed to its research development at JIBS.

Christer Davidsson

is a foundry engineer from Skövde. He graduated from Erik Dahlberg High School in Jönköping. Christer began his career as a foundry technician at Volvo's foundries in Skövde and has also worked at Arvika Foundry and at Kockums in Kallinge. He was the initiator of a completely new foundry at Volvo in Skövde, which introduced a pioneering casting process both technologically and in terms of environmental protection. Christer has been chairman of the Swedish Foundry Association and thanks to his long-term efforts to promote cooperation between the Swedish foundry industry and academia, Jönköping University has now become a research and training centre for both the Swedish and international foundry industry. Christer is retired from Volvo and continues his involvement in the Swedish foundry industry by lobbying successfully for further collaborative projects between Swedish companies and JU.

Sven-Eric Stenfors

is a technical licentiate in materials science and has devoted most of his professional career to materials development and applications in the automotive industry. With a special devotion to cast materials, he is an active promoter of collaborations between industry and academia to solve advanced materials-related research problems.

With a professional background from Scania and as a member of the Foundry Association, he was a driving force in the development of a collaboration between JU and Scania. Among other things, he was involved in a knowledge transfer model via a seminar series between researchers at JU and materials and product development specialists at Scania. Since 2007, regular seminars have been held which involve a continuous transfer of knowledge between JU and Scania and is a source of inspiration for future research projects. He has also been active in the Casting Innovation Center.

The Academic Ceremony on 8 October this year is a solemn occasion where new professors will be inaugurated and honorary doctors as well as the PhDs who have defended their dissertations at Jönköping University will be conferred. On the two days leading up to the ceremony, the honorary doctors and the new professors will give public lectures. More information about the lectures will be provided at a later date.

Read more about the Academic ceremony