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David Rubin Receives Honorary Degree From Denmark's Aarhus University

Professor in Psychology & Neuroscience says relationship with Aarhus allowed him to 'expand the possibilities for research in novel ways'

Dean Svend Hyllenberg, left, presents Duke's David Rubin with an honorary degree. Seated wearing a gray dress (background, center) is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Photo by Lars Kruse/Aarhus University
Dean Svend Hyllenberg, left, presents Duke's David Rubin with an honorary degree. Seated wearing a gray dress (background, center) is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Photo by Lars Kruse/Aarhus University

David Rubin, a professor in Duke's Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, received an honorary degree at the annual anniversary of the founding of Aarhus University in Denmark.

Rubin has been connected to Aarhus University since 1985, spending two years as a visiting professor. He has published more than 20 journal articles in collaboration with professors from Aarhus University's Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, and has helped enhance research at the Center on Autobiographical Memory Research, according to the school's website.

"The theoretical perspectives and different resources perfectly complement those at Duke, allowing me to expand the possibilities for research in novel ways," said Rubin, a Duke faculty member since 1978. "The interaction has allowed the faculty and students at Aarhus and me to make more of our different intellectual backgrounds." (Click here to watch a video interview with Rubin about his work.)

Aarhus University, a public university with some 43,000 students, ranks among the top 100 universities in the world. The university confers four honorary degrees each year, one for each of its schools. The school of Business and Social Science selected Rubin to receive an honorary degree during a Sept. 14 ceremony attended by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Svend Hyllenberg, dean of Business and Social Sciences, presented the award to Rubin.

"His style has seen him challenge existing views in psychology and made him a leading researcher of memory, widely respected for his originality, sharp analysis and wit," states a profile of Rubin on the Aarhus University website.