Dr. Laureano Molins
Laureano Molins, Head of Thoracic Surgery at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, President of the Spanish Association Against Cancer–Catalonia Against Cancer and academician on leave of absence of the Royal European Academy of Doctors–Barcelona 1914 (READ), was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Abat Oliba CEU University in the course of a solemn ceremony held on 25 March at its Barcelona campus. Alongside Molins, Ana Pastor, former Minister of Public Works and of Health and Consumer Affairs and former President of the Congress of Deputies, was also awarded an honorary doctorate.
A thoracic surgeon of recognised national and international prestige, Molins was invested in recognition of his extensive clinical, teaching and research career, as well as his commitment to a humanistic conception of medicine that places the patient at the centre of healthcare practice, as the university itself noted. The person responsible for delivering his Laudatio was fellow READ academician Juan Corona, Deputy to the Rectorate and Honorary Rector of the same university, which thereby reaffirmed its commitment to academic excellence and to the recognition of careers that contribute significantly to the common good. Also taking part in the ceremony were Jordi Palés, Dean of the university’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, who reviewed Pastor’s figure and academic and professional career, as well as Arcadi Gual, Rector of Abat Oliba CEU University, and Alfonso Bullón de Mendoza, the university’s Grand Chancellor, who delivered the closing address.
In their speeches upon joining the university’s academic body, the new honorary doctors expressed their gratitude for the distinction, and both emphasised a conception of health linked to the dignity of the person, institutional responsibility and human commitment. Laureano Molins highlighted the value of a medical practice centred on the patient and guided by ethics and professionalism, while Ana Pastor reflected on healthcare and the welfare state as an expression of constitutional humanism. “At first I thought I was not the person deserving of such an honour, although I was immediately drawn to the idea that the experience one accumulates throughout one’s professional life should be passed on to the next generations of doctors and healthcare professionals,” said Molins. “Beyond his impressive academic, professional, social and humanitarian career, what stands out most in Laureano Molins is his human quality, which goes hand in hand with his stature as an academician and exemplary surgeon,” Corona said of him.
Molins holds a doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and completed postdoctoral training in Thoracic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in the United States. He is also a member of the European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons, the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Molins joined the Royal Academy in 2017, an occasion that earned the personal congratulations of King Juan Carlos I, both to the recipient and to the institution.
