Sigrid Hemels receives honorary doctorate from Lund University

Sigrid Hemels received her honorary doctorate from the School of Economics and Management (LUSEM) at Lund University, where she has been affiliated since 2018. "Sigrid is a professor of tax law at Erasmus School of Law and a permanent member of the Dutch Council of State, which testifies to both academic excellence and social responsibility. In addition, her active presence at our faculty has enriched our academic environment. She has taught, supervised and inspired many of our master's students and participated fully in our research community through seminars, discussions and collaborations," says Joakim Gullstrand, Dean of LUSEM, on the award of the honorary doctorate.

"It was an intense but wonderful rollercoaster ride," says Hemels. "When I walked into the faculty building in Lund on the morning of Thursday 28 May, I was greeted by posters with my photo and the announcement of my honorary doctor's lecture. Before that could take place, the day began with a lunch with the board and the first speech of what turned out to be many more to follow."

The ceremony

The ceremony took place during the annual doctoral conferment ceremony in Lund Cathedral. The proceedings began with a procession from AF-borgen to the cathedral, with all nine faculties of the university represented. The entire ceremony was conducted in Latin, including the names of the new doctors and their titles.

Hemels recalls: "Fortunately, my name in Latin is not very different (Sigridis), and the name of Erasmus University (Universitate Erasmiana Roterodamensi) and my chair (profestrix juris fiscalis) were also easy to follow. But the Latin scholar on duty had presumably needed to do some studying for the term 'member of the advisory division of the Dutch Council of State' (consultrix veneranda rei publicae Bataviae)."

She received, in succession, the doctoral hat as a symbol of freedom, the doctoral ring as a symbol of loyalty to science, and her diploma. A cannon salute marked the conferment. "After being welcomed by the honorary promotor, a professor of ancient Greek and Latin, I was guided across the parnassus," says Hemels.

Eight years in the making

Hemels has been affiliated with LUSEM since 2018, first as a visiting professor and from 2022 as an adjunct professor. During that time she taught master's students, supervised research and participated in seminars and collaborations within the faculty. To be able to fully engage in academic life, she learned Swedish and continues to take language classes. "The fact that she has also taken on the challenge of learning Swedish reflects both her commitment and her collegial spirit," says Gullstrand.

About Sigrid Hemels
Sigrid Hemels studied fiscal economics in Rotterdam and completed her PhD at Leiden University in 2005 on the use of tax subsidies for arts and culture in the Netherlands. She is State Councillor in the Advisory Division of the Dutch Council of State. In addition, she is professor of tax law at the Erasmus School of Law. She has published and lectured, both in the Netherlands and abroad, on various topics including tax incentives for charities and the arts, exchange of information and European tax law.