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Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue
53, 1996
Doctor Honoris Causa Awarded to
Jon Bilbao
The president of the Basque Country, José
Antonio Ardanza, and the Chancellor of the University of the
Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Juan José Goiriena,
presided over the ceremony awarding Jon Bilbao with a
posthumous honorary doctorate degree. The ceremony took
place on the 8th of November, 1995.
Felix Menchacatorre, Professor of the University of
the Basque Country and long-time coordinator of the
University Studies Abroad Consortium in the Basque Country,
nominated Jon Bilbao for the honor. The ceremony took place
at the UPV/EHU facility in Bilbao, Bizkaia, and was attended
by approximately three hundred people. Attending the
ceremony from UNR were William Douglass, the Coordinator of
the Basque Studies Program; Robert Hoover, Academic Vice
President of the University of Nevada, Reno; and Carmelo
Urza, Coordinator of the University Studies Abroad
Consortium.
Jon Bilbao was a member of the Basque Studies Program
from 1968 to 1981. Jon was instrumental in developing the
BSP library into a major collection. Upon his return to the
Basque Country, Jon founded Eusko Bibliographia (the
Institute of Basque Bibliography) and Harriluze, an
institute dedicated to the study of the Basque
diaspora.
Rector Goiriena stated that, “As one would
appreciate from his contributions, we stand before the life
and work of a multifaceted man, one with initiative, an
adventurer and indefatigable contributor to the historic
evolution of our country, to which he was totally
dedicated.”
Felix Menchacatorre emphasized Jon’s human
dimension: “In the warmth of his humanity and through
his conversations, the most interesting topics would arise.
He would express his opinions with humility and he would ask
the opinions of others....He remained young until his death.
All his life he maintained an intellectual curiosity which
he transmitted to his disciples, encouraging them to seek
new paths, new ways of working, such as those he
opened.”
Jon died in May of 1994. The Honorary Doctorate was
received by his daughter, Amale.
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