Der Fachbereich Biologie verleiht den Doktorgrad als Anerkennung hervorragender wissenschaftlicher Leistungen und außergewöhnlicher Verdienste auf dem Gebiet der Biologie auch ehrenhalber (Ehrenpromotion - doctor honoris causa, h.c.).
Folgenden Wissenschaftlern ist diese Ehrung bislang zuteil geworden:
Kurylowicz, Wlodzimierz, Prof. Dr. Drs. h.c. (26.09.1910 - 21.02.1991)
Professor Włodzimierz is remembered as one of pioneers of the antibiotic era. He was born September 26, 1910 in Lvov. He received his MD from the Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov. Following posts as an Associate Professor of Microbiology at Lvov and as a research bacteriologist at the National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw he became a Professor of Microbiology at that Institute. He was Director of the Institute from 1964 to 1980. More than 270 of this works regarded such topics as: antibiotic biogenesis and biosynthesis, numerical taxonomy of Streptomyces spp., evaluation of BCG and microbial fine structure. Prof. W. Kuryłowicz was a recipient of the National Prize Award for scientific guidance in construction of the first antibiotic industry in Poland, and the National Prize Award for the co-authorship of the monograph "Antibiotics - Origin, Nature and Properties". He was also recipient of Doctorates honoris causa of: Nicolas Copernicus Medical University in Poland; University of Oslo; University of Lille; Medical University of Debrecen, Hungary; University of Liège, Belgium; Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil; University of Quèbec, Canada; University of Münster, Germany.
Preer Jr., John Randolph, Dr.; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Prof. Peer's graduate work involved an analysis of the killer character in Paramecium, a trait appearing to show a cytoplasmic form of inheritance that seemed to challenge accepted ideas about genetics. He worked on this problem for the next 30 years, ultimately showing that the killer trait was due to unusual bacterial endosymbionts that lived in the cytoplasm of Paramecium. In 1985 he, his wife and life-long lab partner Bertie (Brandau) Preer, and their associates Bertina Rudman and Audrey Barnett found that the genetic code, universal for all previously described nuclear genes, was unexcpectedly different in Paramecium. Awards: 1976 elected to the National Academy of Sciences; 1976 Guggenheim Fellow, 1993 Honorary doctorate in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Wesfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany, 1998 Bloomington Distinguished Faculty Research Lecturer, 2011 awarded President\'s Medal by IU President McRobbie
Demain, Arnold L., Dr.; Professor für Industrielle Mikrobiologie, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Arnold L. Demain (born 27 April 1927) is an American microbiologist. During his 60-year career, he has gained a renowned reputation in the field of industrial microbiology. He was formerly the Professor of Industrial Microbiology in the Biology Department at MIT and Founder and Head of Department of Fermentation Microbiology at Merck & Co. He has been described as “one of the world’s leading industrial microbiologists” and as “a scientist constantly in the forefront of industrial microbiology and biotechnology.” He has been “a pioneer in research on the elucidation and regulation of the biosynthetic pathways leading to the penicillins and cephalosporins” and “has been instrumental in the development of the beta-lactam industry. ” One feature of Demain's work, according to Microbiology Australia, has been his “ability to undertake fundamental research on systems with clear industrial applications, recognising that biodiscovery is the start of the road that includes strain improvement to achieve levels of product synthesis that warrant further investment to take products into the marketplace.”