"The joy is great!" University of Bern awards Kuno Lauener an honorary doctorate
As the singer and songwriter of Züri West, he felt the language and touched people: Kuno Lauener has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in his home town of Bern.
07.12.2024, 09:44
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- The University of Bern awards Kuno Lauener an honorary doctorate.
- The singer and songwriter from Züri West is being honored for his music and lyrics.
- Lauener suffers from multiple sclerosis: it is unclear whether he will be able to attend today's award ceremony in Bern.
The University of Bern is awarding an honorary doctorate to Kuno Lauener today. It is honoring the singer and songwriter of the band Züri West for his poetic work and his contribution to the linguistic cultural heritage of the Bernese dialect, as it announced.
Kuno Lauener is an outstanding dialect artist and an important innovator of contemporary Bernese rock music, the university said in a statement.
"Kuno Lauener has helped shape the image of the city of Bern as an exciting and attractive place of lively youth culture, and his lyrics and music have touched many people for forty years," Rector Virginia Richter was quoted as saying.
Lauener is the sixth person to be honored
Lauener said that he had never expected the award in his life. "But the doctoral hat suits me well and I'm delighted!" It is not yet clear whether Lauener will accept the award in person today at the University of Bern's annual birthday celebration, the so-called "Dies academicus", the university added.
The University of Bern first awarded the honorary doctorate of the Senate and the Executive Board of the University in 2009 to mark its 175th anniversary. Previous recipients include Angela Merkel (2009), Prince Albert II of Monaco and Luc Pettavino (2014), Johann Schneider-Ammann (2019) and Nasrin Sotoudeh (2023). Lauener is the sixth person to receive an honorary doctorate from the entire university.
The Senate, the Executive Board and the faculties of the University of Bern can award honorary doctorates to individuals for outstanding academic or professional achievements or in recognition of a life's work.
