The chemist Rafael Foguet is to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the UB
On 19 March at 12 p.m., the chemist Rafael Foguet Ambrós will be invested as doctor honoris causa of the UB at a ceremony attended by Dídac Ramírez, rector of the University of Barcelona. José Costa, emeritus professor of the UB and dean of the Official College of Chemists of Catalonia, will act as master of ceremonies. The ceremony will also see the award of the doctoral qualification to the successful class of 2008 and the 13th University of Barcelona Council of Doctors Prize.
On 19 March at 12 p.m., the chemist Rafael Foguet Ambrós will be invested as doctor honoris causa of the UB at a ceremony attended by Dídac Ramírez, rector of the University of Barcelona. José Costa, emeritus professor of the UB and dean of the Official College of Chemists of Catalonia, will act as master of ceremonies. The ceremony will also see the award of the doctoral qualification to the successful class of 2008 and the 13th University of Barcelona Council of Doctors Prize.
Rafael Foguet Ambrós obtained his degree in chemical sciences from the University of Barcelona in 1957, graduating with extraordinary honours. In the same year, he set up a research group as part of the CROS business group, where he was appointed technical director in 1968. As head of the Organic Analysis and Control Laboratory he introduced a range of innovative analytical techniques including gas chromatography, spectrometry and nephelometry. In 1970, he was named general manager of Production and Sales at CROS, S.A., and took on various roles on governing boards until 1974.
In 1974, Foguet was made managing director of the Ferrer Group, where he was responsible for introducing the training program for an in-house process engineering team. In 1982 the Ferrer Group created a fine chemistry research team for the research and development of new products and processes, and Foguet set up a group of experts to research plant extracts, citrus residues, synthesis and fermentation, whose work was instrumental in the development of new products and applications that emerged in the 1990s. Foguet also set up a pharmaceutical research group and two chemical research centres in Germany. In 1991, a Food R&D Laboratory was opened to support the development of custom-designed products, and Foguet has been present in numerous collaborative projects between universities such as the UB and centres operated by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), including the Fat Institute, Seville, and the CSIC's Department of Catalysis in Madrid.
In addition to his business-related work, Foguet has been heavily involved in the promotion and diffusion of general scientific research and a number of specific projects in the fields of chemistry, pharmacy and biomedicine, through active associations with various institutions and centres. He is the author of a large number of articles and technical publications (152) and has made 120 successful patent applications for scientific and commercial application in the chemical sector.
Rafael Foguet is currently president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, founded in 1764, president of the Expoquimia International Chemical Exhibition (Fira de Barcelona), vice-president of the Spanish Society of industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and member of many entities as the Permanent Chemistry and Society Forum or the National Advisory Council on Singular Scientific-Technical Facilities. Among his many ahievements, Foguet has received the Creu de Sant Jordi (St George's Cross), the highest civil distinction awarded by the Catalan Government (2002), and the National Association of Chemists of Spain Gold Medal (2008).