Professor Ulrike Diebold works at the Institute of Applied Physics at the Technical University of Vienna and has been nominated for the honorary doctorate by CEITEC BUT, with whose experts she has been working for many years. "TU Wien and BUT are combined not only due to scientific interests but also due to their geographical, historical and cultural ties," Diebold recalled the more than 100-year tradition of both educational institutions. In her speech, she also mentioned that she sees a great energy, strength and potential for growth in the CEITEC Science Centre.

Ralph Ford from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is the second honorary doctor, the 69th holder of this degree overall in the history of the Brno University of Technology. He was nominated as a computer science expert by the Dean of the BUT Faculty of Information Technology. "Although it may sometimes seem that our world is degenerating in terms of news and our global politics, the fact is that on almost every scale the humanity is evolving, the prosperity is growing, and conversely, the number of war conflicts, famines and diseases is decreasing," Doctor Ford said, who taught at FIT BUT in the past and sees Czechs as very clever, inquisitive and inventive people.

After the award ceremony of dr. h. c. the academic community moved from the neo-baroque hall of the rectorate to the premises of the Brno City Theatre, where the 20th BUT Academic Assembly was held. BUT Rector Petr Stepanek awarded not only gold, silver and commemorative medals, but also rector awards to academics and students of the Brno University of Technology. The representatives of cooperating universities, companies and institutions exceptionally received the prizes. At the end of the evening, everyone watched the musical performance of Mamma Mia! The BUT Academic Assembly in the Brno City Theatre was financially supported by the Statutory City of Brno and the South Moravian Region.

The academic ceremony, which also commemorated the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the anniversary of the closure of Czech universities at the time of the Protectorate, was the autumn culmination of the celebrations of the 120th anniversary of the Brno University of Technology. The closing part of the celebrations will be the BUT Ball, which will take place on Friday, December 6, 2019 at the Brno Exhibition Centre. This largest ball in the Czech Republic, which was attended last year by 3,600 guests, will increase its capacity to more than 4,200 seats this year.