Published: 07.05.2025
The University of Pardubice bestowed a prestigious academic honour upon two distinguished scholars in recognition of their contributions to the development of historical and chemical sciences. The honorary degrees were awarded by the Rector, Professor Libor Čapek, to Professor Karl Vocelka, a renowned historian specialising in the early modern period and the 19th century, and Professor Himanshu Jain, an internationally recognised expert in materials science.
“Both of these distinguished individuals maintained long-standing collaborations with the University of Pardubice and significantly contributed to the advancement of key scientific disciplines at our faculties. By awarding the title of doctor honoris causa, we honoured not only their outstanding research achievements and creative scholarship, and their impact on the development of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy and the Faculty of Chemical Technology, but also their role in enhancing the international reputation of our University,” said Professor Libor Čapek, Rector of the University of Pardubice.
To date, a total of 27 individuals had received the honorary doctorate from the University, including such notable figures as former President of the Czech Academy of Sciences Rudolf Zahradník, researcher Blanka Wichterlová, former Rector of Charles University Radim Palouš, and transport expert Petr Moos. In recent years, the title had been awarded to Professor Libor Grubhoffer of the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Professor Petr Sáha of Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Professor Bohuslav Mánek of the University of Hradec Králové, and PhDr. Jiří Holba of the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
The ceremonial event took place in the Arnošt of Pardubice Assembly Hall and was attended by prominent guests including representatives of local government, rectors of Czech universities, members of the University’s Scientific Board and Board of Trustees, and representatives of the University’s partner institutions.
More about the Honorary Doctorate recipients:
Professor Dr. Himanshu Jain – Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Pardubice for Outstanding Contributions to Materials Science
Professor Dr Himanshu Jain was awarded the honorary doctorate of the University of Pardubice in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the advancement of science and research in the field of materials science.
Professor Jain graduated from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi and the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur. He earned his doctorate at Columbia University in New York. He worked as a research scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and held various academic and leadership roles at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was the founding director of the International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass (IMI-NFG), supported by the National Science Foundation, and the Institute for Functional Materials and Devices (I-FMD) at Lehigh University. He held the position of T. L. Diamond Distinguished Chair Professor of Engineering and Applied Science and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University.
Professor Jain held 12 patents and published more than 420 scientific papers in both basic and applied research on glass materials. His h-index was 60. He also edited 10 books in the field. His work was recognised with numerous awards, including the Zachariasen Award for outstanding research in glass science, the Otto Schott Award – the most prestigious international honour in glass science – and the N. F. Mott Award for excellence in scientific research in the field. He also conducted research and delivered lectures at the University of Cambridge and the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom.
For more than 25 years, Professor Jain had been collaborating with the Faculty of Chemical Technology at the University of Pardubice on research into chalcogenide glasses and their applications in photolithography, nanolithography, photonics, and sensing technologies. Since 2017, he had served as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Faculty’s Centre for Materials and Nanotechnologies (CEMNAT), which had been part of the Czech Republic’s Roadmap for Large Research Infrastructures since 2016. In 2020, he was appointed to the University of Pardubice International Scientific Council, an advisory body to the Rector particularly in the area of research, development, innovation, and creative activities.
ao. Univ. Prof. Dr Karl Vocelka – Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Pardubice for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Early Modern and 19th-Century Central European History and for Long-Standing Collaboration with the University
Emeritus Professor at the University of Vienna and renowned historian of the early modern period and the 19th century, Professor Karl Vocelka played a vital role in advancing international research into the history of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from the 16th to the 19th century.
Professor Vocelka came from a family with Czech roots in the Plzeň region, although he spent most of his academic career at the University of Vienna. There, he studied history and German studies, completed his doctorate and habilitation, and later served as Director of the Institute of History (Institut für Geschichte) from 2000 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2012. He also spent several years at Stanford University in the United States.
Professor Vocelka authored or co-authored nearly 60 books and more than 220 articles and book chapters in academic journals, in addition to writing approximately 300 reviews and curating 14 exhibitions. He was widely recognised for his significant contributions to cultural history, particularly with respect to the early modern and 19th-century periods. His best-known works included monographs on Rudolf II, Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife, and the Habsburg dynasty. Several of his books were published in Czech. In the past 15 years, he also co-authored numerous scholarly publications and two historical novels together with his wife, Michaela Vocelka.
His achievements were recognised by the City of Vienna, which awarded him the Decoration of Honour for Services to the City, and by the Czech Academy of Sciences, which honoured him with the František Palacký Medal. He was the founding president of the private Institute for Early Modern Research in Vienna, which launched the academic journal Frühneuzeit-Info, today considered one of the most prestigious journals in the field. He was also an active member of the editorial boards of several Central European journals, including three Czech titles: Časopis Matice moravské, Folia Historica Bohemica, and Pražský sborník historický. He regularly lectured abroad and frequently visited American universities.
Thanks to Professor Vocelka’s generosity, the University of Pardubice Library received a significant part of his multilingual private collection, which he built up over many years and which comprised around 4,000 volumes of books and journals.
