Sept. 22nd, 2022, International Association of Universities (IAU) President Prof. Dr. Pam Fredman told a packed auditorium at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) universities need to rethink internationalization taking advantage of new technologies as a complement to physical mobility.

In her keynote address, after having been awarded an honorary MRU doctorate, Prof. Fredman said new technology and digitalization provides many opportunities for universities to jointly act in providing and developing quality research.

Prof. Fredman, the former Rector of Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, said the digital transformation must be undertaken with respect for quality, inequality, ethics, open access.

“The pandemic pushed the already ongoing development of technology and digitalization in higher education and there are many lessons learned, which must guide future development,” she said. Consequences of the pandemic highlighted the inequality in possibilities to digital transition between regions and countries. However, she said it was also an opportunity to increase access to higher education and thereby “societal equality and capacity building.”

Prof. Fredman said the “online transformation” has in many aspects positively affected inequality and in particular, gender inequality. Women in most countries are taking on more of social and family responsibilities, which may possibly hamper their possibilities to attend meetings, traveling, she added.

“We need to develop and take advantage of digitalization as a complement and not replacement in research, education and societal cooperation,” she highlighted. “The digital transformation must be done with eyes on and respect for quality, equality, ethics and not least security and legacy,” Prof. Fredman said. “There is an increasing need for legal expertise at universities and international cooperation in this area,” she noted.

She also discussed value-based education and the responsibility universities have to the society at large responding to “changes occurring on regional and global level.”

“Universities have been around for centuries providing new knowledge and competence to the society at large. They have responded to and taken responsibility for societal challenges, often unpredicted and unforeseen, changes occurring on the regional and global level. Most recent examples are the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine,” Prof. Fredman noted. She said universities quickly responded to “take care of and support students and faculties that with short notice must flee Ukraine.”

During the ceremony, Prof. Pam Fredman said it was a great honour to receive the honorary title at MRU considering that it has been bestowed upon many highly respected individuals with different backgrounds. These recipients, in various ways, stand up for common values such as peace and freedom, human rights, democracy, the equal right and value of the individual, with international global perspectives and the role universities have in fostering and supporting a societal development in alignment with those values, said Prof. Fredman.

“To be given the Honoris Causa title at your University is for me an appreciation of international cooperation in higher education and that this University is and will continue to be part of forming the future of Universities...,” Prof. Fredman noted.

In addition, she emphasized the unique role of universities to provide knowledge and competence through research and education. However, she noted the increase in populism throughout the world and cited the fact that more than 50% of countries today are led by authoritarian regimes “or are undergoing de-democratization – often accompanied with a governmental and sometimes also societal questioning and even denial of these values.”

MRU’s Senate agreed to confer the honorary doctorate to IAU President Prof. Fredman on June 30th, 2022.

During the ceremony, Senate Chairman Prof. Romas Prakapas introduced the June 30th Resolution highlighting the achievements of Prof. Fredman.

The honorary doctorate was awarded for her signification contribution enhancing the role of higher education in strengthening democracy and sustainable social development, for developing education and science policies based on humanism, promoting equal access to education for all, and reducing regional and social exclusion in education and science, for her outstanding contribution to bringing the world‘s academic community together to address global challenges through research and to promote open access to new knowledge and scientific results, and for consistent support in opening a wide range of international academic community cooperation prospects for Mykolas Romeris University.

Sweden’s Ambassador to Lithuania Inger Linnea Buxton congratulated Prof. Fredman saying she takes “great pride” in Prof. Fredman’s contributions to higher education in Sweden and her dedicated work in international cooperation and her role as head of the IAU.

“Prof. Fredman, you have been a champion of promoting Global Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda to strengthen democracy and equal rights and opportunities and reducing inequalities and exclusion, contributing to achieve the Swedish Foreign Policy objectives for a healthier, more sustainable and peaceful world. These are values that Sweden and Lithuania are working to promote and achieve,” said Ambassador Buxton.

The ceremony was led by MRU Deputy Rector Assoc. Prof. Saulius Spurga who introduced the distinguished professor. Her biography was read by MRU Faculty of Human and Social Studies Dean Prof. Odeta Merfeldaitė.

Prof. Dr. Fredman was Rector of the University of Gothenburg 2006-2017. From 2016, she is a member of the board of the Wallenberg Foundation, the largest private research-funding agency in Sweden. She sits on the boards of several international and interdisciplinary centers at the Karolinska Institute and is the Director of the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development. From 2008 Prof. Dr. Fredman became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Since 2016 she is the President of the International Association of Universities, actively encouraging cooperation between various universities, seeking to ensure the accessibility and internationalization of higher education. Prof. Dr. Fredman’s contribution to the field of neurochemistry research is reflected by her research including more than 170 scientific publications in international highly-cited research journals.