Introducing The Honorary Dr. Buterin

November 30, 2018 7:03 PM

The Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Basel, Switzerland’s oldest university, awarded Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin an honorary doctorate for his various blockchain-related contributions, such as promoting decentralization, working on cryptocurrencies and EDCCs (aka smart contracts), and, of course, inventing the Ethereum platform. The honor was bestowed during the university’s Dies Academicus (an annual event to celebrate the institution’s founding) on Friday, November 30.

Professor Aleksander Berentsen, dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, praised Buterin for his work. “Vitalik’s blockchain innovations are game changing,” said Berentsen, according to a press release shared with ETHNews. “He has blazed a trail for science and industry to follow and work together.”

In the announcement, Buterin noted that he was “honored to have received an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel.” He added, “Switzerland is well known for its innovative blockchain research.”

The 24-year-old Ethereum co-founder was the youngest awardee to receive an honorary doctorate during the university’s celebration. In fact, Buterin published the Ethereum white paper, “A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform,” when he was only 19. The university acknowledged the fact that Buterin accomplished such feats “without an academic degree or ties to a university.”

The University of Basel, which investigates blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies at its Center for Innovative Finance, is a little over 100 kilometers (around 60-70 miles) away from Zug, dubbed Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley.” The Ethereum Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the Ethereum network, is headquartered in Zug.

Daniel Putney is a full-time writer for ETHNews. He received his bachelor’s degree in English writing from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he also studied journalism and queer theory. In his free time, he writes poetry, plays the piano, and fangirls over fictional characters. He lives with his partner, three dogs, and two cats in the middle of nowhere, Nevada.

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